Game Changer
by Headbanger Rockstar
Summary: 5th Story in Terminal Orders Series. A string of murders has Gibbs and his family on edge. What will they do when tragedy hits close to home? Set 3 years after the end of Separation Anxiety. Rated T for language, content, situations, etc. Angst/Hurt-Comfort. Alternate Universe. Major Character Death (major character in the series, not necessarily the show). WIP. AU/OOC
1. Big Moment

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own NCIS or any of the characters. Original characters and plot belong to me, and I take full credit for any evilness that may happen herein. NCIS is property of the CBS Network and Bellisario Productions. I am just borrowing them!_

_Thanks as always to my wonderful friend and beta reader, GotGoats! You're awesome!_

**Author's Note: **Hi again! I'm really excited about this new story! And before we go any farther, yes, I know that in the show, Jethro originally went to work for NIS. However, my poor, over worked brain likes to forget that. So we are going to just go ahead and switch it over to NCIS (there's lots of other things that are switched up a bit too, so we'll just add this to the list!) … I hope you all enjoy! Thanks for going with me on another journey! —Headbanger

**Game Changer**

**Chapter 1: Big Moment**

"C'mon Tony! We're going to be late!" Shannon called from the doorway to the hotel room. She leaned against the whitewashed frame, door propped open with her strappy black shoe, her black suede coat warm and comfortable as she wrapped her arms tightly around her middle. It was chilly in the hallway, despite the heat. It was late January in Ohio, after all. The Gibbses were on a special trip, a quick weekend away from the big city.

"I'm coming!" Tony called back, but he was still in the bathroom and the door remained closed despite his words.

Kelly rolled her eyes from her spot in the hall. "Tony's probably fixing his hair," she said with a good-natured roll of her eyes. "I'm going to the elevator." She turned and stalked off down the hallway toward the stainless steel elevator doors.

Jethro stepped up behind Shannon from where he'd been waiting in the hall. "You go ahead with Kelly," he said. "I'll get him."

Shannon nodded. "Kelly and I will meet you boys at the car." Kelly was already standing at the elevator waiting for them and Shannon hurried off to join her before the elevator arrived.

Jethro couldn't figure out what was taking Tony so long. He stepped back into the hotel room and banged on the bathroom door. "What's the hold up, Chief?" he called, an edge to his tone. They were going to be late. Being late was not an option.

The bathroom door jerked open suddenly and twelve year old Tony looked up at his dad frantically. "Something's wrong with my face!" he exclaimed.

Jethro looked at his son carefully, studying his young face and mostly flawless features. He took in the sight of the still-fading scar from where he'd been shot several years earlier, and there was a scar on his chin from a particularly bad spill on the bicycle a couple of summers ago. He didn't see anything wrong though. He noted how Tony's jaws were becoming more squarely shaped as he grew. He was beginning to look quite a lot like his biological father—Anthony DiNozzo, Sr. "I don't see anything wrong, son," Jethro finally said.

"HOW CAN YOU NOT SEE IT?!" Tony sounded like he was beginning to panic. "IT'S ALL I CAN SEE!"

"Ok, OK! Calm down! Show me," Jethro said exasperatedly. They _really _needed to get moving.

Tony grabbed Jethro's arm and dragged him into the fluorescently lit bathroom. They turned their gazes to the mirror and Jethro studied Tony's reflection carefully. "I just don't see anything, Tony," he said softly. "Where is it? Show it to me?"

"THIS!" Tony exclaimed, pointing dramatically at his chin.

"I only see your chin, Tony," Jethro said patiently.

"It's got a BUMP on it!" Tony cried, looking up at Jethro in horror. "I've never had a bump like that on my face before! What is it?!"

Jethro tilted Tony's head and examined his chin a little closer. "Ah. There, I see it now. You've got a pimple. Those are no big deal. It's barely noticeable."

"Right Dad, easy for you to say," Tony grumbled. "You don't have this huge—THING—on your face—making you look like a troll!" Tony moaned dramatically.

Jethro chuckled. "C'mon Troll Boy. We need to hurry. Can't be late today." He handed Tony his coat and straightened both of their ties. "There we go. C'mon now. Mom and Kelly are already at the car waiting for us."

"I'm only going 'cause it's you," Tony said, buttoning his coat. "'Cause I know how important this is to you. If it was me I'd stay home and hope this—THING—on my face would go away."

"Pimples are part of life, kiddo," Jethro said sympathetically as they headed together for the elevator. "They're a sign you're growing up."

"If this is what growing up is like I don't wanna do it!" Tony groaned.

"Now, now. Not growing up has a nasty alternative."

"What's that?"

Jethro smiled sadly, thinking of the people who'd been in his unit and had sacrificed themselves in service to their country and the Marine Corps. "Not getting old means you die when you're young. And that's not a good option, y'hear me? We're all going to be old and snarly when we die. So suck it up about the pimples, yeah?" Jethro said good-naturedly and ruffled Tony's hair.

"Dad." Tony deadpanned. "I _just _fixed my hair," he said seriously.

Jethro chuckled. "When did you get so vain?" he asked, amused by his son's drama. "You used to not care how you looked?"

"Yes," Tony agreed. "But then I grew up. And I met Rebekah," he said dreamily, a smile drifting across his face.

"Ah yes," Jethro nodded. "The infamous Rebekah we keep hearing about." The elevator jerked slightly between floors, causing Jethro and Tony's stomachs to each flip over at the sensation. "You kinda like her, dontcha?"

Tony blushed slightly, his eyes on his shoes, and Jethro was reminded of how enamored Tony had been with his second grade teacher back in Oceanside. "Yeah," he mumbled quietly. "She's uh…she's really…I like everything about her," he said uncomfortably. He looked up at Jethro. "Is that how you feel about Mom? All twisted up inside?"

Jethro smiled and ruffled Tony's hair again. "It sure is," Jethro nodded. At Tony's look of frustration at having his hair ruffled again, Jethro smiled even wider. "And if she's really worth it, she won't mind if your hair is ruffled. In fact, if she's really worth it, she won't care if you're bald."

Tony groaned. "Dad sometimes you're so weird!"

"Might be weird," Jethro agreed, "But I'm also right." By this point the elevator had reached the lobby and Tony hurriedly tried to muss his hair back into place. "C'mon kiddo," Jethro instructed. "We need to hurry. Let's roll."

xxx

There were many cars parked at the auditorium by the time the Gibbs family arrived. Upon entering the building with the glass front, Jethro smiled at his family. "Where should we meet?" he asked.

Tony, Kelly, and Shannon looked around. "I dunno where we should meet, but there's Grandma and Grandpa!" Kelly exclaimed, pointing.

Jethro and Shannon both waved their arms so that their parents would see them. Jackson and JoAnne rushed over to them. "Hello everyone!" JoAnne exclaimed.

"Hi Grandma!" Both kids hugged JoAnne. Several years earlier, when Shannon's bipolar disorder had been raging so out of control, JoAnne had dropped everything to come stay with them outside in Oceanside, California. She'd been an integral piece in Shannon recovering as she had and their lives returning to normal.

"We were just trying to figure out where we should meet back up," Shannon said.

Tony pointed outside. "We could meet at the statue," he suggested.

On the sidewalk in front of the auditorium there were several bronze statues. Some were dancers; others were musicians serenading the dancers. Together they made an artful, jovial display in the center of the small, eclectic city the Gibbs family was visiting.

"That's a good idea Tony," Jethro nodded. "Let's meet back at the ballerina statue when we're done."

A chorus of agreement sounded and Jethro nodded again. He smiled at his wonderful family, grateful they were sharing this day with him. "Alright," he said. "Wish me luck!"

"Don't trip and fall over Daddy," Tony giggled.

Kelly gave him a hug. "I'm proud of you Daddy," she said.

Jethro kissed each of the kids on their head, much to Tony's dismay. He didn't like all the touchy-feely-smoochy stuff anymore. "See you soon," Jethro said, and he hurried away.

xxx

"GOOD AFTERNOON!" an old man wearing a graduation robe and hood boomed into the microphone. The speakers were unable to compensate for the volume level that was being input into it and the speakers squealed with loud, screeching feedback. It was all very loud, and Tony cringed at the noise. "I'd like to welcome you to this year's Virtual College Graduation! We are pleased this year to have a larger graduating class than ever before—an astounding 489 students!"

Applause erupted and more feedback left everyone in the auditorium cringing.

Kelly looked at her mother in horror. "We gotta sit through 489 graduations?" she hissed. "Seriously?!" She and Tony had never attended a graduation ceremony before.

Shannon smiled. "It will go faster than you expect it to," she said. "There will be some people talking at the beginning, but once they start calling names it will go quickly."

"489 is a lot," Kelly groaned, leaning back in her chair. She stared at the tiled ceiling and winced when the feedback squealed again. She thought they needed to turn down the sound. It was so loud! The old man talking had a loud voice, but it sounded like he was yelling into the microphone. She glanced over at Tony who was slumped in his seat. Daddy always teased Tony when he slumped like that, saying that there was a trailer park of space between his butt and the chair that could be rented out. Closer inspection told Kelly that Tony was uncomfortable. His eyes were beginning to look all squinty and he was frowning. She leaned over to his ear. "You ok?" she whispered.

Tony shook his head and then groaned softly. "It's too loud," he whispered, subtly sticking his fingers in his ears and rubbing at his temples.

Years ago, during the child abuse trial against Tony's biological father, Anthony DiNozzo Senior, Tony was shot in the head when his father jumped a guard and stole his gun. The shot Tony had taken was thankfully more of a deep graze than a penetrating gunshot wound, but there was still significant effects from the injury that Tony still felt even now, almost seven years later. The peripheral blindness resulting from the injury to his eye was a nuisance, but the most debilitating part was the migraines the young boy suffered from and would likely always suffer from as a result of the injury.

During Jethro's final deployment in the Marine Corps three years earlier, Shannon's bipolar disorder had spiraled out of control. In an effort to get through the long months with Daddy gone, Kelly had stepped up—because Shannon was not in a frame of mind to do so—and she took care of Tony. As a result, Kelly could easily recognize the symptoms of Tony's migraines.

And right now? Tony was showing the signs of a big one coming on.

"Can I help?" Kelly breathed.

Shannon glanced down when she heard how softly Kelly was speaking. She saw how pale Tony had suddenly become, and how ill he looked. She picked up her purse and pulled out the bottle of Tony's pain medications that they always carried with them in the event such a headache as this appeared suddenly. She fished out a pill and handed it to Tony with her bottle of water. "Ok," she murmured. "Gonna be ok. Are you going to be sick?" she asked quietly, her voice barely audible.

"I don't think so," Tony whispered. "I think we caught it."

Kelly picked up her suede winter coat and bunched it up on the arm rest between her and Tony. Then she handed him her earmuffs. "Put these on and then lay down," she instructed.

Tony turned his nose up at the purple ear covering with the sparkly silver throughout the fur lining, but the desire to block out the overbearing speakers won and he slipped them on his head without argument. He slid down a little more in his seat and tucked his legs up, bringing his head down to lay on Kelly's coat. "Thank you," he whispered gratefully.

Kelly leaned over and kissed him on the temple without speaking. She grinned wildly and wagged her eyebrows when he shot her a disgruntled look. Kelly looked up at Shannon, who smiled and nodded in approval. She glanced over at the grandparents who had watched the entire scene without speaking.

Shannon glanced back to the stage as applause erupted. The old man was sitting down and an old lady was taking his place. "Good afternoon!" the new speaker exclaimed, her voice high pitched and screechy—giving the feedback from the speakers some real competition. "This year we are pleased…" she droned on and on and Tony squeezed his eyes shut against the pain and whimpered pitifully. It felt like someone was trying to stretch his ears open with the Jaws of Life. The medicine Shannon gave him made everything look blurry and he groaned as a wave of nausea washed over him. His blurred, unseeing eyes popped open wide and he covered his mouth with a trembling hand.

Shannon draped her arm across the back of Tony's seat and dropped her hand down to the back of his neck. Somewhere along the line tey had discovered that rubbing Tony's neck firmly, massaging the tense muscles worked wonders toward releasing a migraine..

Tony let out a soft croaking sound under his mom's gentle ministrations. He felt tears spill helplessly from his eyes as some of the tension released. He gasped softly in pain and squeezed his eyes closed as the blurriness and unsteadiness of his vision increased. He jerked slightly when a warm hand inserted itself in his. He cracked his eyes open, and saw Kelly watching him with concern, holding his hand gently, letting him draw strength from her.

Kelly looked up at Shannon, whose face was grim with concern as she watched Tony. Finally after several minutes of Tony's soft gasping and the increasingly tight grip on his sister's hand, Tony let out a long breath, almost a sigh, relaxing, giving himself over to the relief of the pain medicine and his body slowly relaxed into sleep.

xxx

"…Julius Geitner…Martha Gestalt…" Each name being called was met with loud rounds of applause from the audience. Jethro observed the crowd from his place on the stairs where he was waiting his turn, looking over a sea of faces for his family.

"Leroy Jethro Gibbs, with Highest Honors," the lady at the podium read his name and for a half second Jethro froze at the lack of sound. He looked up and saw up there—in the balcony—that his dad and JoAnne were waving their arms at him and Shannon and Kelly each gave him a thumbs up. Tony was slumped over sideways towards Kelly, and he looked positively limp, even from where Jethro was standing. Jethro blinked and forced his body forward, distractedly shaking his hand with the officials and smiling at the cameras. He hurried off the stage and returned to his seat where he pulled out his cell phone.

_**GunnyGibbs**__: Is T ok?_

A moment after he hit send, a phone made a loud whistling sound from somewhere in the balcony and Jethro closed his eyes. A moment later Jethro's phone buzzed in his hand.

_**NurseShannon**__: Forgot 2 turn damned sound off. Oops! He's ok. Migraine. He's sleeping._

Jethro ran a hand over his face, cursing Senior for the millionth time. He wished, more than anything, that Tony could be pain-free.

_**GunnyGibbs**__: Do we need 2 leave? I can sneak out._

_**NurseShannon**__: No. We'll stay 4 now. He's had meds and is asleep on K's coat._

_**GunnyGibbs**__: R U Sure?_

_**NurseShannon**__: Positive! T will feel horrible if he thinks we ruined ur day._

_**GunnyGibbs**__: Didn't ruin anything. Didn't even want 2 B here. Only want piece of paper saying I graduated._

_**NurseShannon**__: I know. But we R here. We'll enjoy the day. T had meds. Maybe will feel better when he wakes up._

_**GunnyGibbs**__: Hope so. Feel bad._

_**NurseShannon**__: Not ur fault. Damn speakers R 2 loud and triggered him. T wearing K's earmuffs. LOL_

Jethro bit back a sad chuckle at the mental image of Tony wearing Kelly's purple earmuffs.

_**GunnyGibbs**__: Must B A bad 1 if he agreed 2 that!_

_**NurseShannon**__: Kind of bad. No puking thank god._

_**GunnyGibbs**__: That's good. This is boring._

_**NurseShannon**__: We could decide on dinner?_

_**GunnyGibbs**__: Somewhere quiet. If T not better then take out or delivery._

_**NurseShannon**__: Parents?_

_**GunnyGibbs: **__Invite 2 stay. Up 2 them. Home tomorrow._

Jethro smiled and put the phone in his pocket. He was surprised when his phone vibrated again a moment later.

_**NurseShannon**__: We are sitting in 44FF come find us after it's over. Proud of you! Love u Gunny /heart/ :)_

Jethro smiled, his heart swelling at the words. He saved her text and hit reply.

_**GunnyGibbs**__: Love u too Mrs. Gibbs :)_

xxx

Cheers and caps soared as soon as the charge was given, and Jethro was suddenly an official college graduate. Never one for wild and crazy antics, he kept his hat firmly on his head, though he did move his tassel over proudly. He began shoving his way through the crowd, feeling a bit like the salmon who'd beat themselves bloody swimming upstream.

When he got to the top of the stairs in the balcony, it didn't take him long to spot his beloved family. He rushed over to them and hopped down onto the row below them so he could face them.

"Hey," he said with a smile.

Kelly pounced him with a hug that almost sent them flying backwards. "Daddy you graduated! That's so awesome!" she exclaimed.

Jethro hugged her tightly. "Thanks Kelly-bug," he said. He looked at Shannon, still in Kelly's embrace. "How is he?"

"Still sleeping. I think he's ok," Shannon said. "I think we caught it early. He's not thrown up, which is good. That always makes his headaches so much worse."

Jethro nodded. "Do you think he can walk outta here? Or should I carry him? That'll draw lots of questions though."

"Let's ask him," Shannon said. Jethro nodded and she shook Tony's shoulder gently. Kelly plucked the earmuffs from his ears and he stirred slightly. "Tony," Shannon called quietly. "Wake up Sweetie."

Tony blinked weakly in the fluorescent light. Then he grimaced in pain. "Owww," he whimpered, rubbing his temple pitifully.

"Hey kiddo," Jethro's voice was much softer pitched than Shannon's. Shannon's voice was naturally louder. She could bring it down, but not enough for it to not hurt. "You with me Tony?" Jethro asked.

Tony blinked heavily. The painkillers made him so groggy. "Yeah," he finally whispered.

"Good. Good, that's good. Party's over kiddo. You think you can walk outta here?" Jethro had a feeling he knew the answer. Tony's eyes were twitching unevenly, trying to focus. Some of that was a side effect of the medicine, but a good bit of it was from the headache itself.

Tony shrugged. "I dunno," he mumbled. "Dizzy…"

"What if we put him between us and let him lean on us," Jackson suggested. "What do ya say, Tony?"

A large group of celebrants passed by the Gibbs family and one of the ladies stopped. "Is your little one alright?" the elderly lady asked.

JoAnne smiled. "Yes, thank you," she said.

The group of people smiled and continued on their way.

"C'mon kiddo," Jethro took off his robe and hat and handed them to Shannon. She, Kelly, and JoAnne got out of the way so that Jethro and Jack could get Tony up. Jethro hopped over the seat and eased Tony upright. Tony groaned and grabbed his head. "Ok. It's ok. We're going at your pace," Jethro coached.

Jethro passed Kelly her coat and then gently grasped Tony by the elbows. "I gotcha. Lean on me and we'll get outta here."

Tony's head rocked back and his eyes rolled up in his head slightly. He blinked again and took a deep breath. Jethro felt Tony leaning on him then, pressing his elbows into Jethro's much larger hands, beginning the journey to stand up. Jackson slid in and wrapped an arm around the backs of Tony's shoulders, easing him up slowly and giving him the support he needed to stay steady.

They worked together to get Tony up and he seemed to become more alert as they headed out of the aisle. Jethro was glad that the floor was sloped—Tony didn't navigate stairs well when he was like this. As they neared the exit, Tony leaning heavily on Jethro, the room began to brighten. The earlier gloominess of the day was replaced by sunlight that shimmered like diamonds on the lingering raindrops.

Tony groaned when the light pierced his eyes and he squinted.

Jethro was pleased to see that Tony didn't squeeze his eyes completely shut—it was a sign that the headache was passing. Jethro passed Tony his sunglasses. "Here ya go, kiddo," he said. "We're going straight to the car ok? Just lean on me and we'll get there."

Tony nodded mutely and leaned a little heavier on Jackson and Jethro, tucking his face into Jethro's neck.

"Attaboy. Nice and slow. You set the pace. Here we go."

Jethro nodded at the others and together they headed for the parking lot.

xxx

That evening, JoAnne treated everyone to a wonderful dinner at a jazzy little Italian restaurant in town. The lighting was muted and quiet but upbeat music filled the background with the warm sounds of the piano and saxophone.

"Get anything you like!" JoAnne exclaimed. "It's my treat!"

Shannon and Kelly each ordered ravioli. Jethro ordered chicken parmesan and Jackson selected lasagna. JoAnne ordered eggplan parmesan. Tony stared at the menu. He still felt a little queasy and he wasn't sure what he wanted. He knew he needed to eat—and he knew that everyone got fussy when he said he wasn't hungry, but the truth was, he really wasn't hungry. But this dinner was supposed to be special—for Daddy's graduation. Tony felt like he'd already done so much to make the day hard, he didn't want to make dinner harder too.

"Tony?" Jethro asked, glancing at him. The waiter was standing over him expectantly. "Do you know what you want to eat, son?"

Tony looked back at the menu. None of it really sounded good. "Fettuccini alfredo," he finally decided.

The waiter snatched up their menus and disappeared, promising to return with garlic bread.

"How are you feeling Sweetheart?" JoAnne asked the question everyone was wondering. Tony'd been conspicuously quiet all afternoon. Kelly and Shannon had spent most of the afternoon in JoAnne and Jack's hotel room. The two grandparents had opted to room together and split the cost.

"I feel a little better," Tony said. "My head still hurts a little and my stomach kinda feels queasy."

Jethro stayed in their hotel room with Tony all afternoon. Tony slept for most of that time and Jethro took the time to go over a case file they'd been working on back home at NCIS. There was something about it that was bothering him, but so far he hadn't been able to pinpoint what it was. Mike and Hetty both said they were feeling the same way, but all of their investigating had been fruitless so far. They had a girl who died, with no apparent cause of death, and a scene that was completely blemish free. However, there was something about the whole thing that didn't sit well. They were missing something. So Hetty labeled the young female Sergeant's death "suspicious" and they were still looking into it.

"I'm glad you are feeling better," JoAnne told Tony. "I know we were all very worried about you this afternoon."

"The speakers were too loud," Tony shrugged sadly. He looked up at Jethro. "Did I mess up your graduation?"

Jethro shook his head and patted Tony on the shoulder. "Absolutely not," he said. "My graduation was fine. I'm just sorry you felt bad. But hey—you were lucky! You were the only one who got to sleep through that boring mess!" Everyone laughed.

"It felt like someone was stretching my ears open," Tony told JoAnne.

JoAnne winced. "That sounds horribly painful," she exclaimed.

Tony nodded.

"Can you see better now?" Kelly asked. "You're not wearing your glasses."

"Kinda," Tony shrugged again, wishing they could talk about something else. "My eyes are still kinda twitchy."

"Honey," Shannon turned her attention to Jethro, sensing that Tony'd had enough questions. "Did you get a lot of work done this afternoon?"

Jethro nodded, understanding the non-sequitur meant to be a distraction from Tony's headache. "A good bit, yes. Still trying to break this damn case open. I can't figure out what it is we're missing. It's huge though. As soon as we figure it out it'll break wide open, I think," he said.

"Can you talk about it?" Jackson asked.

Jethro shook his head. "Not really supposed to. Wish I could—you could maybe help me figure it out! Because whatever it is, it's big. Huge. Has the ability to change the whole game. I just can't figure out what it is."

Jackson smiled. "You'll get it. You're a big college graduate now! You'll work it out and figure out what it is!"

Jethro nodded. "I hope so. I hope we can figure it out before someone else gets hurt."

TBC…


	2. The Card

_I am such a horrible friend. Poor Gotgoats is trying to do homework and here I am all, "read my chapter read my chapter!" *sigh* I'm so distracting…but Goats is amazing—Thank you for putting up with me! _

**Author's Note:** What happens to Kelly here actually happened to me when I was about her age. Only I was the kid who said "no." Enjoy!

**Game Changer  
****Chapter 2: The Card**

When Jethro left the Marine Corps, he applied for a position at NCIS. He had some experience with the way they ran their investigations before he applied, because a couple of years earlier he'd assisted a team based out of Los Angeles with a murder investigation on his base in Oceanside, California. The murderer they were looking for actually ended up being a man in Jethro's unit, a fierce marine whose name was Pedro Hernandez. It was that case and that investigation that helped Jethro decide to major in Criminal Justice and Forensic Science when he began college.

NCIS eagerly hired Jethro to be a part of their law enforcement team. In fact, he was hired by the same team leader that he'd worked with on the base in California. It turned out, the MCRT—Major Crime Response Team—in DC had been completely obliterated in an ambush attack. The Director of NCIS felt that Hetty Lange and her Senior Field Agent, Mike Franks, would be a good start towards rebuilding the team in DC so he'd ordered them to transfer from LA to DC. All of this took place not long before Jethro and his family moved east to the DC area. During the Hernandez case back in California, two of Hetty's agents were murdered. It took some time before Hetty felt ready to take on more junior agents. She let Mike have a look at potential hires and one name stood out among all of the others. Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Hetty was pleased by this—she'd dropped hints to the young father during the investigation back in California that he'd make a good agent and she was overjoyed that he'd listened to her advice.

The other agent Hetty selected to be on her team was a man about 15 years younger than Jethro. He'd also assisted NCIS with an undercover operation before being hired. He was good at the covert stuff—spy games made his world turn. Leon Vance was a nice boy raised in Seattle, Washington. He was currently taking night classes to finish up a second bachelor's degree. His first degree in technology was a bit useful at NCIS, but a degree in something crime or investigation related would be even more helpful. Vance had recently gotten married to a lovely young woman named Jackie. The two had been high school sweethearts and had recently reconnected and rekindled their romance.

They'd been a team for about two and a half years now. The Director of NCIS was very pleased with his new MCRT. Their solve rate was outstanding. All of the agents on the team were extremely competent—and in different ways, which gave them more of an edge. And now Jethro was coming up on a big promotion. His newly acquired bachelor's degrees, coupled with his years of service with the Marine Corps, had given him the credentials he needed to be elevated to Full Agent Status.

Leon was not impressed by Gibbs. He thought the older man flaunted his military career too much and used it to kiss ass (even though Gibbs never actually mentioned it). He felt like Hetty and Mike showed Gibbs favoritism he was not given and when he mentioned this to Hetty, he was assured this was not the case at all. Gibbs got praise and recognition because he was good at his job. He could figure out any puzzle, shoot any target, and find any perpetrator.

Until now.

They'd gotten the call for the case two weeks before Jethro's graduation. It was right after Christmas and Hetty's team had been on weekend rotation when the call came in that a young female marine had been found dead. She was alone in her apartment, no sign of forced entry. The team combed her apartment and the building that housed it. Nothing at all seemed out of the ordinary—except for the dead girl on the bed. She was laying flat on her back, fully clothed, hands and arms straight at her sides, her body completely straight. She looked…placed. Her position was too careful, too perfect—not a finger was out of place.

This case was bugging Jethro because he could sense something familiar about it. But he'd worked lots of cases with weird circumstances by this point, and part of him figured they must all be running together. Hetty said she had the same feeling Jethro was experiencing. So did Mike. It had inspired them to work harder, to check and recheck every bit of evidence they found, every clue and tip they received. There was absolutely nothing leading them to a killer—only their instincts. They felt like they were spinning their wheels and they were getting more frustrated by the day.

On Thursday after Jethro's graduation, he was sitting at his desk, feet propped up on it, alternating between reading through the case file again and staring at the gray walls, wishing for some sort of spark of inspiration on this case, when his cell phone rang. He unclipped it from his belt and glanced at it. Shannon was calling him. "Hey Honey!" he answered with a smile.

"_Hi Dad!"_ Tony giggled into his ear.

Tony was very happy at his school. After a fairly traumatic first year in public schools, filled with bullies and Tony spending his lunch periods in his locker or the bathroom (depending on who found him first), JoAnne announced that she would foot the bill for private school to get Tony and Kelly away from these "animals" as she referred to them. Kelly was now in the 8th grade and Tony was in the 5th. Tony's early academic challenges seemed to be a thing of the past. He was a tremendously intelligent little guy, read everything he could find, and studied diligently for his classes. He had more trouble sitting still and focusing than anything. The first year they'd been in DC, Tony's doctor had prescribed him medication to take for his ADHD and over the next several months, Tony's family watched sadly as the little boy seemed to get lost inside his own head. He became excessively quiet and withdrawn, with a flat affect and showed no emotion at all. Jethro let this go on for a couple of months, trying to see if it would pass once the medicine got into his system, but it seemed to only continue getting worse. Finally Jethro put his foot down and announced that Tony was coming off the medicine. He wanted his Tony back. They all did.

Shannon and Jethro did lots of research after that, searching for natural ways to cope with the symptoms of ADHD. They now avoided foods with too much sugar and salicylic acid, observed strict bedtimes, made sure to exercise every day. They found that small amounts of caffeine actually helped him to focus more, and they also spoke with Tony's teachers and were able to provide him with very small, very quiet fidget toys for the classroom. They also worked it out at school that once an hour Tony could stand up and move around. He was also playing soccer in the spring and fall, basketball in the winter, and during the summer he participated in both the crew team and the swim team. Jethro and Shannon didn't mind that Tony's foot and leg bounced when he was sitting, or that he drummed on a table if his hands were unoccupied.

"Tony! What's up buddy? How's your day?"

"_My day's good!"_ Tony exclaimed. _"I made a three point free throw shot today at basketball practice!"_

Jethro beamed with pride even though Tony couldn't see him. He was glad they'd consulted with a new pediatric orthopedist, and glad that he'd encouraged Tony to play sports—Tony loved to play sports. "You made a three point free throw shot?" he repeated for Hetty and Mike's benefit.

During the investigation in Oceanside, Tony had become very attached to Hetty and Ducky. As time had passed, Mike had joined their ranks and was now on the list of Tony's favorite people as well. Now Mike pumped the air with his fist and held two thumbs up with a broad grin of approval, and Hetty did a little happy dance at her desk. Leon fought the urge to roll his eyes.

"_Yeah Daddy! I did! It was SO awesome! Coach said I could play pro one day!"_

Jethro's smile faltered a little bit. Tony had not yet demonstrated any signs of arthritis, but while the doctor encouraged sports, he also cautioned that the parents should be on the lookout for excessive joint pain that could be warning signs of arthritis due to the breaks and damage done to his left leg when he was young. The doctor felt it was only a matter of time before the pain would begin to flare up and could become a real problem.

"That's wonderful son," Jethro said. "I'm so proud of you! But keep in mind that just because you think you might want to play pro-ball one day is no reason to neglect your studying or your school work."

"_I know Dad! Besides, to get to play at school I have to stay on at least the AB Honor Roll."_

"Good to know," Jethro said with a firm nod. "When is your next game?"

"_Tomorrow! It's the last game of the season! And Kelly's going to be able to come too 'cause she doesn't have cheerleading practice on Fridays! And there's no football games to cheer at in January. And Mom is off work! I'm all excited!"_

Jethro chuckled. He could practically hear Tony vibrating through the phone. "You sound all excited," he said. He glanced at Hetty, Mike, and Leon and lowered the phone from his ear. "Tony's last basketball game of the season is tomorrow evening," he told them. "If we don't catch a case, do you guys wanna come watch?"

"Well I'd love to!" Hetty exclaimed. "If we don't have a case I'll let everyone off early so we can all go!"

"I'll spring for pizza for all of us afterwards," Mike announced. Despite their rocky start, Tony and Mike were good buddies now.

"What do ya say, Leon?" Jethro asked.

Leon chewed on the straw from his drink from the fast food restaurant. "Dunno yet," he said noncommittally. "It's Friday night—don't know that I wanna spend it watching some rugrat little league game.

Jethro frowned at Vance and lifted the phone back to his ear. "You still there Tony?"

"_I'm here!"_ Tony said. _"Are you busy? Am I bothering you? I had to call you Dad I was SO excited!"_

"You never bother me," Jethro said. "Sometimes I'm busy, but even then you're not a bother. Got it?"

"_I got it,"_ Tony said.

"Good boy. Now. Franks gave you a fist pump and two thumbs up for your free throw and I don't think I've ever seen Hetty move like this. I think it was supposed to be a happy dance, but it looks more like she's got ants in her pants." Tony giggled, even as Jethro's head rocked forward from the force of the headslap Hetty bestowed on him.

Hetty's phone rang at her desk and she turned around and answered it. "Lange." She listened for a moment, the joy dropping from her face as it drooped into a frown. Her brow furrowed behind her thick framed spectacles and she nodded. "On it." She slammed the phone down. "Gear up," she snapped. "We've got another dead girl," she said grimly.

"I gotta run Tony, we just got a case. I'll talk to ya soon, ok?"

"_Ok. I'll tell Mom. I love you Daddy!"_

"I love you too, son. Talk soon." Jethro hung up the phone and grabbed his backpack, hurrying to join his teammates at the elevator.

"You finished playing house?" Vance snarked softly, a smirk on his face.

Hetty whacked Vance over the back of the head. "A man taking time to speak to his child on the phone is nothing to pick fun at. You worry about you, Leon. Worry about being a good member of a good team, and quit being a jackass," she snapped.

Vance opened his mouth to protest, but before he could speak, Hetty stuck a finger in his face. He towered over her, but she met him head on and fearlessly. "Unless you want to go to the ring and work it out that way?" she asked dangerously.

Vance gulped. No one dared cross Hetty. She might be small, but she knew how to fight and both Mike and Jethro had gotten their asses whipped by her on more than one occasion. "That uh…that won't be necessary ma'am," Leon answered thickly.

"Don't call me ma'am!"

They stepped out of the elevator and headed for the fleet lot. "Gibbs you're driving," Hetty tossed him the keys.

"Where are we headed?"

"Quantico. Same apartment building as last time." Hetty's mouth was drawn into a thin line and she looked very angry. "Dead Marine Sergeant. Female. Found in her bed, fully clothed. No marks. No sign of forced entry."

"Same story as last time," Franks muttered. "I wanna know who this sonofabitch is."

xxx

Hetty flashed her badge to the guard standing outside the young sergeant's apartment. She started to open the door, but the young man held up a hand to stop her.

"It's uh…it's bad," he said uneasily.

Hetty nodded gently. "Thank you Corporal. We'll take it from here." She pushed open the door and groaned. Death had a very unique smell that, when combined with a hot radiator on a damp winter day, had the ability to permeate your clothes, hair, and skin. It was cloying and nauseating, but Hetty could immediately tell there was no blood on this scene. Blood had a different smell altogether.

Jethro gasped at the smell, and quickly opened his mouth to breathe instead of having to smell. They moved silently through the small, tastefully decorated apartment. Hetty pulled on her latex gloves and pushed the bedroom door open. Mike gasped. So did Jethro. Hetty sighed.

And Leon? Leon turned around and hauled ass out of the apartment. He reached the breezeway, pulled an evidence bag out of his pocket, and heaved his lunch right into it. He coughed and gasped and just as he thought his body had stopped revolting, Gibbs appeared at his side. He held up a handkerchief. "This is a bad one," Jethro commented as idly as if he were mentioning the rain.

"Jesus," Vance breathed.

Gibbs reached into his pocket and pulled out a small metal can. "This might help."

Vance took it and read the label. "Vicks Vapo-Rub?"

"The menthol and camphor in it help block the smell. I put some on today too. Don't feel weird. Even Franks used it," Jethro shrugged.

Vance opened the can and sniffed it deeply. He let out a sigh of relief when the awful smell disappeared and it no longer felt like his lungs and sinuses were rotting out. "Thanks," Vance said grudgingly.

Jethro smiled. "Anytime."

xxx

Tony hit the button to end the call and passed the phone back to Shannon. "I know you said you wanted to talk to him, but he said they got a case and he had to go."

"Oh, ok," Shannon nodded and put her phone back in the pocket of her scrub top. She knew Jethro would call when he got a chance. "What else did Daddy say?" she smiled at him as she stopped for a red light. They were heading to Kelly's school to get her next. "Was he excited about your free throw?"

Tony nodded enthusiastically. "He told the whole team! He said Mike punched the air and Hetty danced around like she had ants in her pants," Tony giggled at the mental image. "He also said that if they don't have a case that Hetty said she would let the whole team off early and they would all come to my game tomorrow and Mike said he'd buy pizza for everybody afterwards!"

"That sounds like a lot of fun!" Shannon exclaimed. "And I'll tell ya what we'll do. If it turns out that the team has a case? We'll videotape your game and then have everyone over to watch it and we'll eat pizza. How about that?"

Tony grinned. Shannon knew he'd need braces before long. Tony leaned over and hugged her across the car seat. "That's good Mom! I like that!"

Shannon returned the embrace. "It's a plan then! I'll tell Daddy when I talk to him." She turned right into the parking lot of Kelly's school and eased her car into the pick up line. Even though Shannon worked at George Washington University hospital, she only worked part time. That allowed her to be off work by two o'clock on school days so she was able to pick up the kids and be around if Jethro had to work late. On weekends that Shannon was on rotation, Hetty tried to make sure that her team at NCIS was off rotation so Jethro could be at home. If something unforeseen arose, it was not at all uncommon for Tony and Kelly to either go to Mike's house, where they'd spend time with his wife and young daughter, or to Ducky's house and stay with his mother, Miss Victoria. But that didn't happen all of the time. Shannon or Jethro could usually work it out to be at home.

Living on the east coast also made taking trips to Stillwater much easier. A four hour drive, the trip made for an easy and pleasant weekend getaway that the family tried to take advantage of at least once every couple of months. The grandparents were very proud of Jethro, Shannon, and the kids, and how well they were all doing in DC. It'd certainly been a long road to reach this place of stability—especially since right after they moved Shannon had stumbled again. However, things were smooth sailing now. When they'd first arrived, Shannon had faltered slightly. Overwhelmed by the stress of moving, Shannon thought that finding a new team of mental health providers was just another thing on her list of things to accomplish—an unnecessary thing on that list. Eventually, however, she and Jethro came to an understanding that it was absolutely necessary. She was wrong to be so reluctant to get the help she needed and Jethro had been quite angry with her. She'd not stopped taking her medication—Jethro still dosed it out for her each morning and evening, and if he was out of town, then Kelly had volunteered to make sure her mother took her medication. All of that had been almost three years ago and now things were good again.

Kelly climbed into the backseat, a pout firmly on her face.

"Hey Kelly!" Tony called out from the front seat.

"Hi Sweetheart," Shannon said gently, eyeing her oldest child curiously through the rearview mirror.

"Hey," Kelly said sullenly. She sniffled once.

Tony twisted around in his seat. "Why so sad?" he asked, concern filling his face.

Kelly sniffled again. "It's dumb," she said. She was in the 8th grade and it seemed to Tony like Kelly was always either mad or sad leaving school. He didn't think her friends were all that nice if Kelly was unhappy all the time.

"It's not dumb if you're upset," Shannon said.

"The girls…" Kelly huffed out a sigh. "We were in the locker room…after PE today…and one of the girls started asking people if they are virgins." Kelly's cheeks started to color and she looked at her lap, embarrassed by what had happened today. "Some of the girls said they were and some of the girls said they were not. Then they asked me. I didn't know what it was…so I said I don't know if I am one or not…and now everyone is laughing at me. And I still don't know what it is!" Kelly wailed. "The girl said 'virgin' like it's something bad. Momma what is it? Is it bad?"

Shannon silently cursed the idiocy of teenage girls. Really, they could be horribly mean and nasty to each other. "Kelly, a virgin is simply someone who has not had sex yet," Shannon explained. She wondered if this would make Tony ask questions. Then she wondered if she could get away with referring his questions to Jethro. That was not a conversation she was ready to have with her twelve year old son! It was only fair, after all, she thought.

"I've never had sex," fourteen year old Kelly stated. "So I guess I am one."

"Yes," Shannon agreed. "You are. And I think that's a very good thing. You're too young to be worrying about stuff like that."

Kelly looked out the window. "She was so mean about it. If it's a good thing, why be like that? What's her deal?"

Shannon shook her head. "I don't know Sweetheart," she said sympathetically.

"Kelly don't listen to them!" Tony exclaimed. "They're just being dumb and mean!"

"Easy for you to say," Kelly muttered. Her brother was one of the most sensitive people she'd ever seen! He was tremendously hurt by being forgotten or left out. He didn't like it when people picked on him or laughed at him. Kelly stared at the back of Tony's seat in disbelief.

"It's not quite that easy, Tony," Kelly said peevishly. "You of all people should know that being laughed at isn't any fun!"

"Ok, ok," Shannon cut in. She saw the hurt look on Tony's face and knew she needed to calm both of them down. "Kelly I think Tony was trying to help. Tony, Kelly got her feelings hurt today," she glanced at both kids, and when she saw them nod she continued. "Kelly, Sweetheart, I think what Tony was meaning is that those girls were trying to upset you on purpose. How did the girls react to the ones who said they were not virgins?"

Kelly was quiet for a bit. "They were awful to them. Worse than they were to me when I said I didn't know."

"And did any of them reveal anything about themselves?"

Kelly's eyes widened. "No," she said. "Even when people asked them if they were, they'd change it around and ask someone else."

Shannon smirked. It was as she suspected. "I wouldn't worry about those girls, honey. I think they're just pretty insecure."

"I'm sorry I snapped at you Tony," Kelly said. "I was upset…I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

"It's ok," Tony murmured, but his earlier exuberance was gone. It was replaced with a quiet sullenness.

Shannon pulled off of the Beltway and turned onto the road leading into their neighborhood. Jethro and Shannon had done quite a bit of work on the "Pink House," as the kids had initially dubbed it. Their home's previous owner was an elderly lady who'd decorated the house with pink walls and ceilings and pink and green floors with horrible flowery wallpaper to tie the whole look together. Tony had even stated at one point that the house "smelled pink."

With help from JoAnne, Jackson, and the kids, Shannon and Jethro had transformed the house from its former Old Lady Chic, into a trendy and more modern decoration, with boldly colored walls and hardwood and tile floors throughout the house. They'd updated the kitchen and bathrooms, giving the house a brand new character. The Gibbs family could now describe the house as their home, and there was not even a faint hint of the former "smell of pink."

Their neighborhood was lined with oak and maple trees, and was really very pretty. Flower gardens adorned the yards and neat sidewalks bordered the roads in front of the houses. All of the houses were built around the same time, in the 1950s, and were adorned with painted wooden siding and front porches that stretched across the front of the houses. They were all one-story houses, each one with either a full basement or a storage building out back. Fences marked off backyard borders—some made of wire chains, others made of wooden planks.

Trees leaned over the houses' front porches like sheltering protectors, and people of all ages could be seen on porches, sidewalks and in the yards. It was a beautiful neighborhood. Safe. The neighborhood seemed to exist within a perfect bubble, unblemished by the dirty city, unmarred by crime, hate, homelessness, poverty, or sadness. It was the happy place of every resident who lived there.

After Shannon pulled into the driveway, everyone piled out of the car. In the backyard, Sasha, Tony's faithful Great Pyrenees dog, barked happily at the sight of her family returning. Tony set his backpack on the steps and pulled the leash out of the empty flower pot with faded painted flowers on it that lived near the front steps and he walked over to the gate. Tony reached over the fence and clipped Sasha's leash to her collar and then opened the gate. He remembered when they first moved here that he couldn't reach Sasha over the fence. He would climb halfway up the fence and then reach over. He didn't have to do that now. Tony smiled to himself, thinking back on how he'd made that free throw shot earlier. He was totally growing up.

"I'm gonna take Sasha for a walk, Momma," Tony called.

"Be careful Sweetheart," Shannon called back from the front porch. She was unlocking the door and Kelly was walking up the driveway from the mailbox.

"Tony!" Kelly said. "You got a letter from California!"

"Ok!" Tony replied. She passed the letter off to him as they passed in the driveway.

Tony thanked Kelly and hooked Sasha's leash on his wrist and started down the lane. He stared at the envelope. The handwriting was unfamiliar, there was no return address, and the address on the envelope was for their old house on the base in California. It had a sticker on it with FORWARDING ADDRESS written in large letters. At first he thought maybe the letter was from his friend Scott. But why would Scott send mail to the wrong address? And in his last letter, Scott told Tony that his Daddy was being transferred and they were moving to Alabama. He had no idea who his mail was from.

He walked slowly down the street, letting Sasha lead the way, and he slowly pulled the single sheet of lined paper out of the envelope. Tony squinted as the sloped handwriting and began to read. After a moment, he stopped, staring in confusion at the paper, looking at the bottom to see the name, and scrunching up his face. Sasha turned around when she reached the end of her leash and looked at Tony as though wondering why he'd stopped walking. Tony held the letter up in front of his face, his entire face filled with confusion and anguish. "What?" Tony didn't understand the feelings swirling inside of him. He didn't understand the letter he'd received or who'd sent it to him. He knew he hadn't always lived with Jethro and Shannon. He had vague memories of pain and fear from when he was very young. Most of his memories were from living with his "new mommy and daddy" though.

"Sasha come on," he said quietly, giving his dog a gentle tug. He suddenly wanted to go home. He folded the letter carefully, and put it into his pocket. He didn't want to talk to Shannon about the letter. He wanted to go to the person he trusted first and foremost—the person who he remembered rescuing him, his hero.

Tony needed to talk to his Dad.

xxx

Shannon and Kelly shared a concerned look when Tony returned home. It was obvious that something was bothering him. He was withdrawn and distracted, but when his mom and sister asked what was bothering him, Tony shrugged them both off and assured them that he was fine. "I'm fine Mom," he said. "Nothing's wrong with me. I'm good."

It became increasingly obvious, however, as the evening progressed, that Tony really was not fine. He picked at his dinner—unusual for him. Tony always ate with gusto unless he was sick or worried. Shannon watched as Tony picked at his sloppy joes and potato chips. He put his chips into his sandwich like he always did, but he'd barely eaten any of it. Normally Tony would eat two or three good sized sandwiches, but tonight he'd barely made it through one. After dinner he'd meticulously washed the dishes without complaint, when normally he and Kelly bargained over who got to dry the dishes. Once the dishes were finished, he'd hurried down the hall and closed his bedroom door with Sasha in tow.

Kelly was concerned about Tony. Something was bothering him. Shannon had asked several times and Tony had made it very plain that he didn't want to talk about whatever it was. Kelly didn't think that it was because she'd snapped at him earlier, but she wasn't sure. She wasn't sure if she should try to apologize again, but thought that if she was the cause of Tony being so quiet, that she would do her part to fix it. She headed down the hall to Tony's room and stopped in front of his door. She took a deep breath before raising her hand and knocking. Kelly had waited until Shannon got on the phone with Grandma before she went to Tony's room. That way she and Tony could maybe talk without worrying about being interrupted.

"Tony?" Kelly called softly when Tony didn't answer. When she received no answer the second time, Kelly gently opened Tony's bedroom door. Tony was sitting on the floor in his room, back against his bed and his knees were drawn up. His elbows rested on his knees and his forehead was in his hands. Between his feet there was a single sheet of lined paper and an envelope. Tony looked absolutely distraught.

Kelly took one step inside Tony's room and then stopped. "Tony can I come in?"

Tony nodded, but didn't move. Kelly closed the door and moved over next to him. She sat down on the floor and crossed her legs. "What's that?" Kelly asked, pointing at the letter.

"It's dumb," Tony mumbled. "I don't even understand it."

"Is it the letter you got in the mail today?"

"Yeah," Tony swallowed hard. "I opened it while I was walking the dog. I don't…it doesn't make any sense," his voice dropped as he spoke.

"Can I look at it Tony?"

Tony snorted and stood up. He began pacing around the room and stalked over to the window, staring outside. "You can read it if you want. I don't understand any of it. I think it's from a kook."

"Why would a kook be sending you mail?" Kelly asked, picking up the letter. She inspected the envelope and saw how it was addressed to their old house and was forwarded. She looked at the letter and almost immediately her eyes widened and she gasped. "Tony! Do you know who this is from?!" she asked.

"Um, didn't I just say I don't?" Tony snarked, turning around. He stopped when he saw how shocked his sister looked. "Why? Who is it? Do you know who sent it?"

Kelly continued reading, her eyes and mouth open wide. She nodded slowly. "Yeah," she said. "I do…Tony…it's from your dad."

xxx

Hetty and her team continued working the scene at the apartment until after dark. As they went back to the office, Hetty swung by a burger joint and grabbed a sack of sandwiches for them to divide at their desks. Ducky carted the poor girl's body back to the autopsy lab and Jethro and the rest of the team were waiting to hear the results that Ducky came up with. They hoped he could give more conclusive information with this body than he'd been able to provide with the last body.

A phone rang at Hetty's desk and she snatched it up about an hour after they'd arrived back at the office. It was nearing 7pm and all of their brains felt like they were about to melt. "Lange," she snapped into the phone. She listened for a long moment before speaking again. "Thank you Ducky." She hung up the phone and looked at Gibbs. "Gibbs go see Ducky. He's got something for us."

Gibbs hurried down the stairs, almost running to the autopsy lab. "Hiya Duck!" he called as he rushed into the lab.

"My dear boy, what is your hurry? The dead are not in a rush, I must say. We move at quite a leisurely pace down here. There's no need to run."

"Hetty sent me down here—she said you have something for us?"

"I do! I do, indeed! I found something—a business card. I spoke with Hetty about it…I'm not at all surprised you are the one she sent."

"What is it Ducky? Just tell me?" Jethro ran a hand over his face as he felt another surge of adrenaline. He didn't know how he'd ever sleep tonight.

"This card…do you recognize it?" Ducky held out the business card with his latex covered fingers.

Jethro quickly found a pair of latex gloves and slipped them on. He took the business card from the medical examiner and looked at it. His eyes widened and his breath caught in his throat as he read the name on the business card.

"How is this possible?!" Jethro exclaimed.

He looked back at the card in his now trembling fingers and Ducky moved around the exam table to join him. Together they looked at the card wondering how on earth the dead girl had a business card on her person with this name on it.

"It would seem to me," Ducky said. "That someone is sending you a message."

Yes, that would seem to be the case, alright. Because whoever killed this girl, had left Jethro a card.

A card with his name on it.


	3. Damage Control

_Special thanks to my wonderful beta reader Gotgoats! You're awesome!_

**Game Changer  
****Chapter 3: Damage Control**

Anthony DiNozzo Senior smiled. He'd appealed his sentencing and was granted eligibility for parole for his good behavior. He'd had some stumbles in the beginning of his time behind bars, but now he was a model prisoner. Unfortunately for him, though, the parole board that he was presented to denied him his parole. He would stay behind bars for another ten years. But that was ok with him. Because even though he was not given his freedom, he was given something almost better—privileges. He could now access the internet in the common room, the library, he had mail privileges—his life had gotten exponentially better.

He spent almost a year in solitude after phoning the Gibbs family several years earlier. During that time he was tormented nearly every minute by Tony. Tony was always just out of his reach, just beyond his grasp, and he moved so lightning fast that it hadn't taken Senior long to realize that Tony was not his living breathing child at all, but a specter, a phantom version of his little son, sent to make his life even more miserable. The Little Demon—as Senior dubbed him—had finally convinced Senior that compliance would work toward his benefit. He'd become a great prisoner—a role model for the others.

Senior was moved back into a general population cell, thankfully in a new location and not with Moose, his former "roommate." But he was devastated when he realized that his companion from solitude—Little Tony himself—followed him into this new cell. The child tormented his father, and Senior knew that something must be done. So he went to the Prison Commissary and he bought himself some lined paper with the money he earned back in his position in the laundry facility. He thought the best thing he could do to get rid of this image of Tony in his head was to contact him and tell him to back off and leave him in peace. He didn't want the little bastard in his life again—all he wanted was some peace. And that was the whole point of his letter.

He wrote the letter, didn't bother to read it before he shoved it in an envelope. The next day he found the address of Leroy Jethro Gibbs and his family—it was the same address that he remembered from before. A small little dumpy house on a marine base in Southern California. He stuck a stamp on the envelope, sealed it up, and dropped it in the "Outgoing Mail" bin in the common room.

The poor man was convinced, that by sending a letter to his child—the child he'd beaten and neglected and tried to murder—that he would get the image of him out of his head.

He couldn't have been more wrong.

xxx

Hetty finally released the team to go home sometime around midnight. Jethro grimaced when he slid into the driver seat of his car and saw what time it was. He hadn't gotten a chance to call Shannon at all this evening. They'd been so caught up in the case, and the developments, the business card with his name on it…gosh it was all just a mess. He eased the car out into traffic, driving much slower than he normally would—testament to how exhausted he was.

A few minutes later he pulled into his driveway and took a deep breath. He loved their house. He loved that they lived close to their families, and that they had a safe neighborhood where they could live and be happy. Jethro slid out of the car and moved quietly up the front steps. His gait faltered slightly when he saw the lamp light coming from the living room. Was Shannon still awake? Jethro unlocked the door and stepped inside.

Shannon rounded the corner. "Jethro? Oh thank God you're home!" she breathed. It was quiet obvious that she was upset. She rushed up to him and hugged him desperately.

"What is it honey? What's going on?" Jethro returned her embrace.

"I don't know!" Shannon exclaimed, her voice cracking under the strain. "That's just the thing! I have no idea what's going on!"

"Talk to me, honey," Jethro said. "Lay it out for me."

"Well we got home from school and work and everything was great. And Tony took Sasha for a walk and when he came back…I don't know what it is, but his whole demeanor was different. He was quiet and withdrawn. He barely ate dinner, did the dishes without complaining, and then he went to his room. It's Thursday, so I called Mother after dinner. While I was on the phone, Kelly went into Tony's room, and neither of them have come out since then! I've been begging them to talk to me or to come out here, or to clue me in, but they're totally shutting me out! Jethro I don't know what I've done wrong—I took all of my medicines, I made one of the kids' favorite things for dinner…Jethro I don't know what's going on? And Tony…I don't know…he sounds so upset. I knocked on the door earlier, and Kelly opened it about two inches, and told me that Tony really needed to talk to you when you get home. That's all she'd say! She closed the door in my face Jethro! I have no idea what to do!"

"Ok…ok let's calm down. Why don't you make yourself a cup of tea, and I'll go talk to Tony. Is Kelly still awake?"

"Yes! She's running defense!"

"Ok. Let me figure out what's going on. I'll talk to them. This isn't like them—they don't normally do stuff like this, do they?"

"No…not at all…not since…not since I got so sick. Jethro do you think I did something and didn't realize it? Inadvertently upset them or something?"

Jethro kissed his wife on her forehead and hugged her. "I don't think so. I'll talk to him. Just try to stay calm ok?"

"I'm just so worried!"

"I know. I know. It'll be ok. I'm on it." He kissed her on the cheek and headed down the hall.

There was ten feet to walk between the living room and the door to Tony's bedroom, and Jethro used the short amount of time to ponder what in the world could be going on with the kids, and why the hell no one had called him! He raised his hand and knocked on Tony's door.

He heard a distinctly female sounding snort from the other side of the door. "Mom!" Kelly hissed, opening the door two inches. She froze when she saw it was Jethro and her eyes widened. "Daaaad," she said hesitantly. "Hi."

Jethro raised an eyebrow. "Can I come in?" he asked.

"Yes! Thank goodness you're here! Tony's been waiting for you for hours! He needs you Dad!"

"He has a mother down the hall who would like very much to be helpful. What's up with you guys locking her out?"

"Tony…he didn't want to talk about what happened to just anybody. I don't know what's going on with him really. He's barely even talked to me, but he asked me to stay with him and keep Mom out. He paced around a lot, grumbled a lot, stared out the window a lot, was acting like he was really nervous…I thought maybe he was acting weird because of me 'cause we kind of argued a little this afternoon. I went in to apologize, and…well you need to talk to him. I'll leave you to it," Kelly said with a listless gesture towards the sleeping boy on the bed.

"Is he asleep?"

"He's asleep, but he's been making weird noises for like a half hour or so. He won't wake up. I don't know if he's having a nightmare or what. See if you can help him Daddy," Kelly looked up at him desperately. "He said he wanted to talk to you. We knew you had a case…so he didn't call you, but…he needs you," she whispered.

"Ok. I'll talk to him. You go work on fixing things with Mom. She's upset. You guys hurt her feelings tonight. She was worried she'd done something to upset you two."

"Oh no! That isn't it at all! I don't even understand why Tony wouldn't talk to her…I tried to get him to, but…" Kelly shrugged. "No good," she said. Kelly yawned suddenly and Jethro remembered that it was the middle of the night. "I'll talk to her. Sorry Daddy."

Jethro dropped a kiss on her head as she passed. "Atta girl. Don't stay up too late."

Kelly looked at him. "It's already too late," she said flatly. Indeed it was about three hours past the time the kids normally went to bed.

Jethro watched her go and then turned his attention to the young man lying on the bed close by. He closed the door behind him and ran a hand over his mouth. Tony was lying on top of the made-up bed, curled into a tight ball, his arms wrapped tightly around himself, his face buried in his pillow. There was something lying on the bed near him, though, a single sheet of lined paper that was wrinkled and looked like it had been folded and unfolded several times. Jethro sat down on the edge of Tony's bed and picked up the piece of paper casually and unfolded it. He quickly scanned it once, then read it again, his eyes widening in surprise.

_Junior,_

_I don't know what you are trying to pull here but I can't get you out of my head. I can't sleep, I can't speak, I can't think, I can't work, I can't move, I can't shower, I can't do anything, because every time I breathe you're there. You keep staring at me, and watching me, and criticizing me, and mocking me, and taunting me, and you just keep going and going and I am losing my goddamn mind because of you! I don't know what else to do, so I am going to the source of the evil that is following me—and that is you. I want you to let me have some peace. I have not bothered you. I have followed the restraining order to the letter and not contacted you in years. Why can't I get you out of my head? You're everywhere I look. I'm leaving you in peace. I'd appreciate you returning the favor. _

_Sincerely,_

_Anthony DiNozzo, Senior_

Jethro set the paper aside and put a hand on Tony's leg. "Wake up Tony," he said, giving him a shake.

Tony stirred a bit and dug his face into the pillow deeper. His face was troubled though—he wasn't resting.

"Tony, wake up," Jethro called a bit louder, shaking his shoulder a bit.

Tony didn't move, but his eyes slid open. He looked around, as if wondering why he was awake and his eyes widened when he saw Jethro. "Daddy?" he whispered, still not moving.

"Hey," Jethro said quietly, soothingly. "C'mere son."

Tony pushed himself up and tucked his knees up close. "Did you see it?" Tony asked reluctantly. He didn't move into Jethro's open arms like his daddy expected him to.

Jethro nodded. "I did."

"I don't even know him?" Tony said, his tone filled with confusion. "Why'd he write me?"

Jethro moved over and sat next to Tony. He wrapped his arm around Tony's shoulders and pulled him close. Tony wrapped an arm across Jethro's stomach and dug his face into his dad's chest. "It was so mean," he whimpered. "I don't even know him?"

Jethro ran a hand over Tony's hair and kissed him on top of his head. "He's your biological father," Jethro said quietly. "You remember how we adopted you?" Tony nodded against him. "Ok. I don't know why he wrote you. But I'm going to find out and I'm going to make sure he doesn't mess with you again. Ok?" Tony nodded against him again. "One thing you need to remember," Jethro said firmly, "is that he's sick. He isn't well ok?"

"Is he sick like Mom was?"

"Sort of. It's in his head like hers. But I don't think he has the same thing."

"Oh," Tony said, sniffling suspiciously. His head was still tucked into Jethro's shirt and his face wasn't visible. "Daddy?"

"Yeah son?" Jethro said gently.

"Daddy…did I make him sick like this? I mean he says he keeps seeing me…is that my fault?"

"No," Jethro said firmly. "Not your fault at all ok? You have nothing to do with what's going on with him. He wrote you, it sounds like, because you're the one he keeps seeing. But that's just his mind messing with him. It's not your fault."

"I can barely remember him," Tony whispered. "How come I forgot him?"

_Because you got lucky,_ Jethro thought to himself. Out loud, his answer was a bit different. "Well Tony you were very young when you lived with him. And he did some really bad things to you…so it could be that your brain has built a wall around that memory so you don't remember it really well."

"He hurt me a lot, didn't he?" Tony asked sullenly.

"Yeah," Jethro kissed Tony's head again. "Yeah son. He hurt you a lot. But he isn't going to hurt you anymore ok? You're still here with us, and you're still safe, and you're not going anywhere. He's not going to hurt you ever again."

"Do you promise?" Tony whispered. That was a question that dated back to the early days when Jethro and Shannon were just getting to know Tony. Tony had often begged for promises and reassurances which the Gibbses were happy to provide.

Jethro hugged him a little tighter. "I promise," he said. "He's not going to hurt you. And I'm going to make sure he knows it. I'll handle it ok?"

Tony shuddered slightly against Jethro. Jethro rubbed his back and didn't release him from the embrace, even as he felt his anger brewing towards Senior. He had no use for the dirty slimy bastard who'd hurt his son so badly. And he'd be damned if he'd let the sonofabitch hurt him again.

"Daddy?" Tony whispered, his voice dropping off into a yawn.

"Yeah son?"

Tony yawned again. "Will you stay?"

"How long do you want me to stay?" Jethro smiled sadly, not surprised by the request at all.

Tony was still for a few moments. "All night?" he finally murmured.

"Alright. Get changed and into bed and I'm going to go check on Mom and Kelly. I'll be right back ok?"

"No!" Tony suddenly said desperately. "I waited all night for you! Please don't go!" he clung a little tighter.

Jethro looked down at him, torn between staying and checking on the rest of his family. He pulled out his phone and fired off a text.

**GunnyGibbs:** Come by T's room on ur way 2 bedroom. Need 2 tell U what is up.

A moment later Jethro's phone beeped in response.

**NurseShannon:** Ok. He ok?

**GunnyGibbs:** Letter he got in mail 2day from Sr. Upset.

**NurseShannon:** Dirty SOB. Kick his ass?

Jethro smiled. God he loved Shannon. She was his lioness—so protective of her babies.

**GunnyGibbs:** U bet! T won't let me leave. Upset.

**NurseShannon:** Stay w/him. K & I talked. R OK. K upset bc she upset me haha.

**GunnyGibbs**: Good kids.

**NurseShannon**: K got picked on at school today 2. Teenagers are dumb. Picking on kids 4 being virgins.

**GunnyGibbs**: Srsly?

**NurseShannon**: O yea. Made K feel like shit bc she hasn't had sex. SMH

**GunnyGibbs**: Kick their asses 2?

**NurseShannon**: :) U Bet!

Jethro put his cell phone back in his pocket and glanced down at Tony. He hadn't moved, but he wasn't sleeping either. He was staring at the piece of paper that was lying on the bed next to Jethro's leg as though it was a pit viper just waiting to attack him.

"Try not to think about it Tony," Jethro said gently. "I know it's bothering you, but you're really safe. He's still in prison, and that's where he's going to stay for years to come." He looked at the envelope, sitting on the nightstand. "And look," he picked it up and showed it to Tony. "He even sent it to the wrong address. He doesn't even know where we live. You're safe. It's alright."

"Daddy?"

"Yeah Tony?"

"Will you tell me a story?"

Jethro frowned at the odd request from his nearly teenaged son. "What story would you like me to tell you?"

"Tell me the story about how you found me?"

"You know how I found you, Tony." Jethro smiled at the memory.

"I know," Tony said. "But I really like the way you tell it."

Jethro set the letter and envelope back on the nightstand and leaned back against the headboard, tightening his arm around Tony's shoulders. "Wait. Before I start. Pjs, covers down. Get ready for bed."

Tony pushed himself up and shucked off his sweatshirt and jeans. He was wearing a blue t-shirt and his boxers under his clothes and he pulled back the covers. Jethro smiled, nodding at Tony's resourcefulness. Tony crawled into bed and Jethro sat back down with his back against the headboard. Tony snuggled up close to his dad and inhaled deeply, taking in the smell of his old man. Jethro always smelled like Old Spice aftershave.

"You ready?" Jethro asked.

"I'm ready," Tony said with a yawn.

Jethro wrapped his arm around Tony's shoulders and settled in comfortably. "Ok, so this one night, I took Shannon and Kelly to the fair. I'd gone that afternoon to re-enlist with the marines and we thought the fair would be a fun way to celebrate. We had boatloads of fun, and when it was almost dark Shannon and I decided it was time to go. Kelly was already falling asleep and Shannon was carrying her. She'd won this ginormous bear at one of those little booth games, and I was dragging the big fluffy bear along and we were heading for the car."

Tony yawned as Jethro talked, but his face glowed with contentment as he listened to Jethro's quiet rendition of how they'd met so many years earlier. Jethro traced his fingers up and down Tony's upper arm and smiled.

"I heard this weird noise, while we were heading to the car. It sounded like there was something trying to get into the metal trash cans. Shannon and I looked around, and that's when I saw it."

"What'd…y'see?" Tony mumbled, as he often did at this point in the story. He was nearly asleep. He only asked Jethro to tell this story to him on nights when he was feeling especially upset or insecure, and it was very rare for Jethro to get much farther than this point in the story before Tony nodded off..

"I saw a little boy," Jethro said gently, his smile growing wider. "And he looked like he was having a bit of a rough time of it. So I gave the big fluffy bear to Shannon and told her to go to the car. And I decided to go talk to the little boy."

"What'd…he say?" Tony murmured, his eyes weren't even open now.

"He asked me what I wanted. I had to smile when I heard him talk because he had the sweetest little voice. But it made me a little sad because he was so frightened. He told me his father had left him, and he was all alone. So I took him home with me. And it was the best decision I ever made."

Tony raised his head and looked up sleepily up at his dad. "Really? The best? Even better than marrying Mom or going into the marines?"

Jethro smiled. "Just as good—best three decisions ever."

Tony laid his head back down. "What happened next?"

"Well we had to find him something for dinner. So Shannon made him blueberry pancakes. And you know what? They're his favorite thing in the world to eat. Just like me. After that…well we had to spend some time apart so we could work it out for Tony to come stay with us…but one day, Miss Anne brought him home to us. It was a surprise to me, and one of the happiest days ever."

A quiet snore interrupted him. Jethro continued to rub his hand up and down Tony's arm, happy that he felt safe and was sleeping soundly. "And we worked really hard to get to keep him. And one day…one day a judge told us that Tony could be part of our family. And that, Tony, was my favorite day. That was the day our family became complete and you became my little boy. And I am so happy about that."

Tony smiled in his sleep, but didn't wake. Jethro leaned down and kissed the top of Tony's head. "I'll keep you safe," he promised. "I won't let anyone hurt you ever. You're mine now, and we're going to live happily ever after."

A soft knock on the door drew Jethro's attention. Shannon poked her head into the room. "Hey," she said quietly.

"Hey yourself," Jethro smiled. "Everybody ok?"

"Yeah. Kelly and I talked and she told me more about what's going on. I just wish he would have told me, but I guess I understand that he wanted to talk to you. If he'd told me we could have called you."

Jethro nodded. "He wanted to hear the story of how we found him tonight."

Shannon's eyes widened. "He hasn't wanted that in a long time. Since we moved here."

"I know," Jethro nodded. "I think this letter really did a number on him."

"Can I see it?" Shannon asked, looking around. Jethro reached over to the nightstand and handed the letter and envelope to Shannon.

He shifted a bit and Tony stirred slightly. Jethro gently eased him down onto his pillow and for a moment, Tony's eyes slid open and he looked around. When he saw his daddy moving, his eyes widened. "Are you leaving?" he murmured sleepily, the dejection audible in his voice.

Jethro smiled down at him and ran his fingers lightly through Tony's short hair. "Nope, just don't wanna sleep sitting up. I think it'd break both of us."

"Maybe," Tony blinked sleepily. He looked around. "Momma?" he spoke Shannon's name softly when he saw her.

"Hey Honey," Shannon rubbed a hand over Tony's ankle. "You ok?"

"Yeah. No. Kinda? Maybe? I don't know," Tony answered honestly.

Shannon smiled sadly. "Fair enough. I'm heading off to bed. Do you need anything?"

"Can I have some water?"

"You bet! Be right back. Would you prefer juice?"

Tony thought about it for a minute. "Yeah," he said. "Do we have grape juice?"

"Yep! Coming right up!" Shannon chirped. She stood up and headed out, taking the letter with her.

Jethro breathed a sigh of relief. "Can I go change?" he asked Tony.

"Can I come?" Tony asked. It was obvious to Jethro that Tony was still feeling a bit clingy and insecure.

Jethro smiled. "Sure kid. C'mon."

xxx

It didn't take Jethro long to get changed and for him and Tony to get re-situated back in Tony's room. Shannon brought Tony some juice and watched as he greedily drank some of it down. He let out a long satisfied breath after his huge gulp and smiled at her. "Momma?"

"Yes Sweetheart?"

"I'm sorry I didn't talk to you earlier. I um…sometimes I just wanna talk to Daddy," Tony said quietly. "But I heard Daddy tell Kelly that we upset you. I'm sorry."

"I thought you were asleep," Jethro commented.

"So did Kelly," Tony shrugged. "I didn't want to talk to anybody so I faked it…I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize for that Tony," Shannon said with a smile.

Tony laid back down. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings Momma," he said, his eyes dropping shut.

Shannon leaned over and kissed the side of his head. "I'm fine Sweetheart. You get some sleep. Tomorrow's a big day—it's your big game tomorrow."

Tony smiled, even as sleep swept over him again. Jethro and Shannon watched their boy as he dozed off. Jethro pulled the blankets up over him and stood up slowly, easing away so Tony wouldn't wake up suddenly. He'd promised to stay the night in Tony's room, but first he knew he needed to talk to Shannon.

Shannon gestured towards the hall with her head and he nodded, following her. He pulled the door to, but didn't latch it. "Did you read it?" he asked without preamble.

Shannon nodded. "I did. Jethro I'm worried about Senior. He's hallucinating."

"How do you figure?" Jethro asked.

Shannon lifted the letter and began to quietly read out loud. "'_…I can't get you out of my head. I can't sleep, I can't speak, I can't think, I can't work, I can't move, I can't shower, I can't do anything, because every time I breathe you're there. You keep staring at me, and watching me, and criticizing me, and mocking me, and taunting me, and you just keep going and going and I am losing my goddamn mind because of you!_'" Shannon looked at Jethro, lowering the letter. "He's hearing voices, seeing an image of Tony…don't you see Jethro? He's doing the same thing I was doing when my bipolar was out of control. I'm not saying he's bipolar, but there's something going on. If he's hallucinating, he's dangerous. Those voices in your head say some crazy shit. And if he gets out of prison, and if he's hearing voices, there's no telling what it might tell Senior to do to Tony. Or to one of us. He's going to be angry because he's been locked up—if he's having a psychotic episode on top of it…well that's a problem. Can you do something?"

Jethro rubbed a hand over his chin. "Can I see the letter again?"

Shannon passed it to him and he looked over it. His frown deepened. "I'm going to take this to work tomorrow. I want to show it to Hetty and consult Legal with her and find out what our options are. I agree with you. He's unstable. That's not going to work for us. Now. The good thing is he doesn't have our address—the post office forwarded the mail to us. We're still one step ahead of him. But I'd like to make sure that we keep that distance. I don't want him to find us."

"I don't either," Shannon breathed, shaking her head. She looked at Tony's bedroom door. "He's just doing so well. It makes me sick to think that sonofabitch would try to hurt him again…it's just…it's unacceptable."

"I agree. We aren't going to let that happen."

"What can I do? You're talking to Legal and Hetty…what can I do?"

"Keep his routine normal, I think. Let him know that nothing's changed. I'll help with this when I'm home too. The big thing is to keep him calm so he's not afraid."

"I'll watch him and make sure he's not getting any migraines too. Stability is good," Shannon nodded.

Jethro nodded. "Good. Good that's good."

"Do you think…I know you got a case today…do you think you're going to be able to make it to his game tomorrow?"

Jethro leaned against the wall and looked at the ceiling. "I don't know," he said quietly. "This case…it's tied to that case we got right after Christmas."

"The freaky murder case?"

"Yeah," Jethro nodded tightly. "It's bad. I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow."

Shannon nodded. "Ok. I told Tony if you guys have to work, that I would videotape the game and when you guys get a night off we'd have pizza at home and have the team over so we can all watch it together."

Jethro smiled and pulled his wife into a warm embrace. "I love that you're such a good mom to our kids."

"Thanks," she blushed.

Jethro glanced at the bedroom door. "I guess I should get back in there in case he wakes up. Could be a long night."

"Are you sure you're up for sleeping in there with him? You need to be well rested for work? I'm off tomorrow—I could stay?"

"Nah it's fine," Jethro said. "He doesn't kick nearly as much now as he used to."

They shared a quiet chuckle in the semi-darkness before kissing each other goodnight and heading off in different directions towards bed.

xxx

The next morning, bright and early, Jethro kissed each of his kids and Shannon goodbye and was out the door before anybody woke up. He took Senior's letter with him, stopped at the diner he'd discovered on their first visit to DC and got coffee and then headed to the office. Jethro was not surprised to see that Hetty was already in the office by the time he arrived.

"Mornin' Gibbs," Hetty said, not looking up from her computer screen.

"Hey," Gibbs said distractedly. He sat down at his desk and booted up his own computer. He set Tony's letter on the desk and began rifling through his rolodex looking for the number to the prison in California.

"Everything ok Jethro?" Hetty asked. She'd noticed how distracted he seemed this morning. Antsy. Something was bugging him.

"Uh…yeah. Yeah it's fine," Jethro nodded.

Hetty narrowed her eyes. "Try again," she said. It was just the two of them in their pod. "What's going on?"

Jethro sighed and lowered the phone. "This," he said, holding out the letter Tony received from his father.

Hetty picked it up and read over the letter. "I thought you all had a restraining order," she said when she was finished reading.

Jethro ran his hands over his eyes. "We did. We do. I have no idea," he said quietly.

Hetty's eyes narrowed. "I think he's working the system. Let me do some digging." She looked at him. "Have you slept?"

Jethro nodded. "Spent the night in Tony's room."

"How did he take it?" Hetty asked. Her heart twisted for the young boy who'd stolen her heart years earlier. He didn't deserve all of this pain and suffering he'd had for a good chunk of his life, and not for the first time, she was grateful he'd caught the eye of her agent and his wife.

"Um…he was restless. Had some weird dreams, so he was up and down a lot, but…overall I think he handled it pretty well. He didn't have a migraine or anything, which is a good thing."

"That's surprising," Hetty said. "I would have thought something like this would have triggered a migraine for him."

Jethro nodded. "Me too. But it didn't. However, he also said he barely remembers his father. So that could be some of it."

"Do you think he's repressing the memories or do you think he's just forgotten some of what happened because he was so young?"

"I think it's probably some of both. I mean he was only five when we found him. A lot of people don't remember back past that much, do they?"

"I don't think so," Hetty shook her head. "Do you want me to try to contact the prison and see what I can find out?"

Jethro took a sip of his coffee. "I can do it. You've got a lot on your plate right now."

Hetty smiled kindly. "I'm not the one whose business card was found on our dead body yesterday," she said gently. "You work on the list of people who could be potential suspects that would give your card to a dead girl. I'll work on figuring out what Tony's kooky father is up to. I have some connections that you might not have yet," she said vaguely.

Jethro nodded. "Thanks Hetty," he said.

"Is Tony going to be able to play in his basketball game this evening?"

"I think so," Jethro said. "He was finally sleeping when I left, so I don't know how his day will be."

"I'll do my very best to let everyone off so we can go support him. He needs to be surrounded by his family," Hetty said, dialing the phone on her desk.

Jethro smiled, knowing Hetty was also speaking of her and Franks as members of Tony's family. "You're right," he agreed. "He was so excited when I told him we might all be able to come."

Hetty smiled. "Then far be it from a serial killer to keep us from our boy, yea?"

Jethro smiled and nodded. "Yep."

xxx

As the day dragged on, Hetty received calls back from her contacts in California, who confirmed that no one really closely monitored the outgoing mail addresses coming out of the prisons. "We have a young boy whose father tried to kill him, and is now violating his restraining order and mailing letters to him. Wouldn't you say that perhaps you should change your system and get a damn monitor?" Hetty asked the person on the other end of the line sweetly.

Hetty found out that once they could prove that a violation of the restraining order had been committed, Senior would have a hearing regarding the violation of the restraining order.

Jethro explained to his boss that Shannon was concerned because it sounded like Senior was having hallucinations. "If he's seeing Tony and hearing Tony, and now writing Tony, what's to stop him from coming after Tony, the first chance he gets?" Jethro asked rhetorically.

Hetty hummed in agreement and made some more calls. Jethro was still working on his list of potential suspects, but really wasn't coming up with anything brilliant. They knew that it had to be someone who at least knew Jethro was in the Marines, so that would have to be someone from Stillwater, or someone from his military career. However, he was in the Marines for sixteen years—he had a lot of contacts from that time. And he didn't think anyone in Stillwater really disliked him enough to kill people over. Franks was busily contacting the dead girl's family and trying to find out any information about anyone who might have wished harm to come her way.

The team worked diligently until lunch time, when Hetty called for a SitRep. She'd spent most of her morning on the phone with California. She had an update for Jethro, but first she needed information on their current case. Her chest swelled with pride, knowing that she had a team capable of working the case without her while she focused on other things.

"Whatcha got for me?" Hetty asked.

"Spoke to the vic's family," Franks began his report. "Mother was pretty much distraught and inconsolable. Didn't get a lot of information from her. Spoke to her father, and he couldn't think of anything that happened or anyone who would want to harm her. They're going to send us her journal and a photo album with her friends in it so we can start checking out people who knew her."

"Excellent," Hetty said with a firm nod. "Gibbs what about you?"

Gibbs keyed up the big screen and pulled up his list of names. "I've been working on the angle of the business card. It's disturbing that a card with my name on it was found on the victim's person. I have compiled a list of contacts that I have developed during my tenure in the Marine Corps. My plan is to begin contacting each of them this afternoon."

"Very good," Hetty praised. "I have an update for you as well, speak to me before you leave for lunch. Vance? Whatcha got?"

Vance stood up. "Ducky's autopsy results are back. He found no signs of injury or trauma to her body. No blunt objects, no head wounds, no broken bones. He found one small spot behind her right ear that looked a bit suspicious, but until the toxicology screen comes back we won't know if there were any drugs involved."

Jethro looked up at Vance from the paper he was making notes on. His eyes widened slightly and he looked at Mike and Hetty whose expressions were similar to his own. Vance was still yakking away about the autopsy results, unaware that he'd just given the biggest clue of anything they'd gotten so far.

"Wait," Hetty said, holding up a hand. "Go back."

Vance stopped midsentence and looked at Hetty, puzzled. "What?"

"Read that first part of your report again," Hetty requested.

Vance still looked confused, but lifted the paper again. "Ducky's autopsy results are back. He found no signs of injury or trauma to her body. No blunt objects, no head wounds, no broken bones. He found one small spot behind her right ear that looked a bit suspicious, but until the toxicology screen comes back we won't know if there were any drugs involved. That part?"

Hetty wasn't listening. "Mike find me the Hernandez file. From Oceanside. Six years ago. Holy shit I think we're onto something." Hetty looked at Vance. "Stay on that autopsy. I want to know the second that tox screen comes back—and if you can get a rush on it, make it happen!"

Vance looked a bit like a fish out of water, but nodded silently, still not sure what he'd uncovered. No one was explaining it to him, but all of a sudden his three teammates were scrambling around. "I'll just um…go back to the autopsy lab," he muttered.

The team worked hard through lunch, stopping only long enough to run out for a sandwich and cup of coffee which they hauled back to the office with them. Jethro didn't even give a second thought to his family, Tony's letter from Senior, nothing else filled his mind at all until Hetty called time out somewhere around 5:30 that afternoon.

"Gibbs! Front and center," she called.

"Yea?" he moved from his desk to stand in front of Hetty's. "What's up?"

"Grab your gear," Hetty said with a smile. "It's time for you to head out."

"What? But the case—"

"The case will be here later. I am going to stay here and wait for Mike to get back with the cold case file from Oceanside. He's been putting it together all afternoon. Once we get the file compiled, he and I will join you."

Gibbs looked confused. "What?" his brain was so focused on the case that he'd completely forgotten about Tony's game.

"You're due at the gymnasium Jethro," Hetty smiled. "Mike and I will join you as soon as he gets back."

"What about Leon?" Jethro asked.

Hetty smiled. "I'll call down to autopsy and see if he's interested in joining us. If he is, then he can come along with Mike and me. But you need to get moving so you don't miss it. Head out! Go!"

Jethro blushed a bit. "I feel awful," he said sheepishly. "I totally forgot. Dammit," he said.

Hetty nodded. "You're a good father, Jethro," she said. "You're a good agent too. Now go to Tony, and we'll see you soon."

Jethro quickly hurried back to his desk where he shut down his computer and picked up his backpack. "Do you know what gym he's playing at?" he asked Hetty.

"Is he at the school?" Hetty was already looking at her computer again.

"Yes," Jethro answered, digging for his keys.

"Then we'll see you there. Go Jethro! Before you miss the whole game!"

"I'm going I'm going I…thanks Hetty."

Hetty raised an eyebrow. "If you don't get outta here I'm going to change my mind," she said seriously, even though both of them knew she wouldn't do that to Tony.

TBC…


	4. The Game

_Special thanks to my wonderful beta reader, GotGoats. Thanks for all your help! You're amazing! _

_**Extra special thanks to everyone who has read and commented. Your messages and reviews are each read and very much appreciated. These days, real life is kinda crazy, and I figure you guys would rather have new chapters from me so that's where I am trying to focus as much as possible. But I do read every bit of feedback you send me—and I will get back to responding to reviews as soon as I can! Thanks! You guys are amazing!**_

**Author's Note: **I think I must have been taken over by aliens or something…I wrote a happy one shot the other day—it actually has a "HUMOR" label on it (Whaaattt?) and this—THIS is actually—brace yourselves—a HAPPY CHAPTER! With a teeeeeny tiny not even really big enough to notice it cliffhanger on the end… :)

**Game Changer  
****Chapter 4: The Game**

As they hurried into the gymnasium, Tony stopped and turned back to his mom. "Do you have the video camera?" he asked. They hadn't seen or heard from Jethro, so they were assuming that he was still working.

"I've got it right here Sweetheart," Shannon indicated the bag she was carrying.

"Ok. Ok good. Thanks Mom. Mom?"

"Yes Tony?"

Tony stopped walking and several people shoved on by them. "Do you think Daddy will make it?"

Shannon smiled sadly. "I don't know Baby," she said sympathetically.

"Do you think he's ok?" Tony bit his lower lip, worry etching into his features.

"I think he's fine. He's working," Shannon said reassuringly. She ran her fingers through Tony's hair. "Let's go get you to the locker room ok? Big game today. I'll tape it. It'll be fine."

"Yeah," Tony said quietly, looking at his shoes. "Yeah, ok," he mumbled. He stalked off with his shoulders slumped and disappeared into the locker room.

Shannon looked after Tony, her heart breaking for her youngest child. She glanced at Kelly. "We need to make sure we cheer extra loud," she told her daughter.

Kelly smiled. "You got it Mom," she winked. "We'll be Tony's own personal cheering section."

"Let's go," Shannon said with a smile and a nod. "We need to make sure we find good seats."

As they headed for the third row of the bleachers—high enough to get good shots with the video camera, but close enough that Tony would hear them cheering for him, Shannon's phone buzzed. She pulled it out and glanced at it, her eyes widening and she smiled. "There we go," she said quietly. She took her seat and quickly responded to the text message she'd just received.

**GunnyGibbs: **Save team seats. We are trickling in slow, but will make it. On my way now. H and M 2 follow soon. Maybe Vance and Duck. IDK tho.

**NurseShannon:** T will be so happy! : )

**GunnyGibbs:** How is he 2day?

**NurseShannon: **Distracted. Think he's thinking 2 much.

**GunnyGibbs:** Hopefully we can cheer him up 2nite.

**NurseShannon:** Sounds like a plan. C u in a few?

**GunnyGibbs**: U Bet!

**NurseShannon**: Gr8. Love u. : )

Shannon tucked her phone away and turned to Kelly. "Daddy's on his way. Mike and Hetty are on their way and Vance and Dr. Ducky might get to come too."

Kelly smiled. "I don't know if I like Vance," she said. It wasn't the first time she'd made such an observation. "He seems like he doesn't like us."

"I think maybe he's just trying to fit into the team. He didn't know Hetty and Mike before they started like Daddy did. Maybe that's all that it is."

"Yeah," Kelly nodded. "Maybe so."

It wasn't long before Shannon's phone buzzed in her hand again. She glanced at it and smiled.

**GunnyGibbs**: Where RU sitting?

Shannon quickly fired off a reply.

**NurseShannon**: 3rd row.

**GunnyGibbs**: Coming across pkg lot now. Game started?

**NurseShannon**: Nope. Still waiting. Hurry!

Kelly smiled at her mom. "Is that Daddy?"

Shannon nodded. "Yes. He's here. Coming inside now."

"Tony will be so excited!" Kelly bounced in her seat.

Jethro entered the gym and Kelly waved frantically when she saw him first. "Daddy!" she called.

Blue eyes scanned the crowd, Jethro's sharp ears catching the sound of his daughter calling out for him. He smiled when he saw her and trotted over to the bleachers. "Hi guys," he said, stepping up the big steps to join his two favorite ladies. "Thanks for saving seats!"

"Have you heard from the others yet?" Shannon asked. She pulled out her video recorder and turned it on. She'd go ahead and record the game for the team to see.

Jethro shook his head. "Everyone was going in different directions. I'm not sure how long it'll take everyone to get here."

"PROBIE!" A gravelly voice called over the murmur of the crowd. Jethro shot from his seat and started waving his arm. Mike and Hetty had just entered the gymnasium. The two agents smiled and Mike pointed, before they began making their way across the shiny, highly polished gym floor towards the bleachers. They'd just gotten to their seats, with Shannon and Kelly hugging each of them warmly, when the announcer began his introduction to the game.

Just as the team started to come out onto the floor, an incredibly tall man—seriously, he towered over Jethro—came and stood right in front of Tony's dad. If Jethro ducked in just the right way, he could still see through the gap between the man's arm and his ribcage, but Jethro was effectively hidden from Tony. Jethro watched as Tony followed his team out onto the floor. He was trying to be energetic and upbeat along with the rest of his team, but everyone there to watch him could tell that his heart was just not in it. His eyes scanned the crowd and with each passing second his shoulders drooped a bit more.

"What's wrong with him?" Jethro asked Shannon. "Did something happen today?"

Shannon shook her head. "I think he's told himself in his head that you weren't going to make it today," she said quietly, a frown on her pretty face. "He was pretty disappointed, but trying not to show it."

Jethro frowned at the back of the man in front of him. Down on the floor, the Ref blew the whistle and the game started. Jethro looked at Mike, who stood well over six feet—taller than Jethro's even six feet, and sighed. "I can't see," he grumbled. He patted the dude in front of him on the shoulder. "Hey buddy," he called. "Can ya take a step one way or another? I can't see my kid," Jethro said.

The tall man in front of Jethro turned around and gave him a disdainful once over. "Piss off, jackass," the man said, his nose turned up. He turned back around.

Now. What Jethro _really _wanted to do, was jump on the man's back and ride him piggy back style until he sat down in submission. What he did instead, was stare indignantly at the man's back, still unable to see his child. He was staring so intently, in fact, that he didn't see Mike suddenly kick the man in the back of his knees, sending him sprawling onto the bench, sitting heavily down on his rear end. Mike stepped in front of Jethro as the man turned around, and calmly held up his badge, his expression daring the man to cross him. "If I was you, _jackass,_" Mike sneered, "I'd learn how to be a human being and quit being an asshole. Just because you're tall doesn't make you friggin' special," he snapped.

The man looked at the people surrounding Mike, and his eyes widened when he saw Hetty pull out her badge, and Jethro pull out his. Sure it was probably not good procedure to go around flashing your badge like that, but the man understood that he was in no position to make a scene. He would lose.

"Suh-uh-sorry man," the guy said uncomfortably. He turned around and remained seated.

"THANK YOU!" someone from behind Jethro called. "Now we can FINALLY see!" There was a pause. "Ya wanker!" another man called.

If it was possible, the tall man shrank even more, much to Mike's glee. Jethro shook his head and turned his attention back to the game when Shannon nudged him with her elbow, trying to hold the camera steady. By this point, Tony had the ball and was slowly dribbling his way down the court. He looked nervous, and he was lacking his usual glowing excitement he usually displayed on the court.

Beside him, Kelly and Shannon were cheering loudly, encouraging Tony in his play. Jethro realized that Tony still didn't know that he was there. He looked at Shannon who nodded and he smiled. Tucking his lower lip into his mouth, Jethro let out a loud, shrill whistle—the same loud, shrill whistle that he used to get his children's attention when they were playing out in the neighborhood. It was a frequently heard sound—one that was instantly recognizable to the little boy on the court. Shannon zoomed the camera in on him when Tony stopped suddenly, still dribbling so as not to get a penalty, his eyes wide as he scanned the crowd.

"Attaboy Tony!" Jethro called, clapping his hands.

"Let's go number seventeen!" Mike called, fist pumping the air.

"C'mon Tony! Cream 'em!" Hetty screamed emphatically.

The child's eyes widened, and he quickly dodged an opposing player. A smile split his face, and suddenly—there he was—there was the Tony they all knew and loved—the Tony who loved to play basketball. Tony began dodging and twisting, faking people out and inside of a minute he'd taken ownership of the entire court.

It was a truly beautiful thing to behold and Jethro was glad Shannon was recording it.

"He's getting really good Jethro," Hetty commented.

Jethro nodded. "He said his coach told him he'd have a shot at the pros if he keeps up," he said quietly. "He's excited about it, but…" he shrugged, "I'm a little reluctant to get excited with him because I remember what his doctor said about the potential for arthritis and pain and repeated injuries if he doesn't take it easy on that leg. And let's face it," he continued, "a sports career wouldn't exactly be easy on his leg."

"True," Hetty agreed, "However Jethro, you must not let your concern for his health impede on his ability to dream. If a dream of a sports career is what is motivating him toward his current excellence, then I see no reason not to let him indulge a bit. He's quite talented. And who knows what the future might hold? It isn't carved in stone that he will have arthritis is it?"

"I don't guess it is," Jethro shook his head. "But it's frightening to think about him being in so much pain—especially if it is preventable."

"With the beginning he had, I think it'd be wise to let him dream. It's good for his self-esteem."

Before Jethro could comment again the buzzer sounded and the crowd around them cheered. Jethro scanned the court and saw Tony smiling and his teammates slapping him heartily on the back. His boy had just scored and he totally missed it! Damn! He glanced at Shannon who was jumping up and down, clapping and stomping her feet, screaming excitedly. He began to cheer too, and leaned over to Shannon. "What happened?" he asked.

"Tony stole the ball from the other team, brought it down court, and did an almost perfect lay-up," Shannon hissed. "Quit talking and watch!"

Jethro rolled his eyes good naturedly and nodded. "I got it I got it," he said, shutting up and turning his attention back to the game.

xxx

The game continued on, each team vying for the highest score and breaking the intensity only during half time. During the half time break, Jethro hoped Tony would get to come out, but Kelly reminded him that the coaches made the players stay in the locker room during that time and drink lots of water and rehydrate and listen to lectures on what they'd done wrong so far and get them all psyched up for the upcoming two quarters of the game.

Jethro and the others commented on how well Tony was playing and how the team worked well together and how they were so hopeful that the team would win this last game of the season. If they won, it meant they would win the Championship. This was seriously, the biggest game of the season. The gym was packed with people and high energy. When the clock started for the second half of the game to begin, Jethro didn't take his eyes off of the court. His boy was out there. His boy who had the opportunity to possibly be a professional ball player—and who had played every quarter of the game so far. His boy who was so excited—and so humbled—that his dad and his dad's coworkers had taken time out of their day to come to his game. The least he could do is give his son his undivided attention.

And that was all Jethro _wanted _to do. He was so proud of Tony he thought he might explode.

The game continued and Shannon lifted her video camera once again. The score seesawed back and forth, until the last minute and a half of the game. The other team was ahead by two points when the Tony's team got a foul. Tony's teammate carefully stood at the foul line, dribbled a couple of times, and then made a perfect shot without even bouncing the ball off of the backboard. Now Tony's team was only down by one point. The other team got the ball and began heading back down the court. Tony hauled off after the kid with the ball, keeping one eye on the clock. He caught up with him about three-quarters of the way down the court—well past the mid-court line and managed to duck under the other player's arm and managed to swipe the ball without creating a foul on the other team.

Jethro's eyes widened and he put his hand on Shannon's forearm. A deep breath was slowly sucked in and he felt his jaw dropping open in shock. A one-eyed glance at the timer told Jethro that Tony wouldn't have enough time to make it back down court. He had five seconds left on the clock. "Shannon," he whispered.

"Jethro," Shannon murmured. "Jethro watch…watch Tony…" their hands met sightlessly and fingers intertwined tightly holding onto each other.

Tony's eyes scanned the court, looking for someone who was open. Seeing no one, and seeing that he was out of time, Tony bit his lower lip, took a deep breath, and did the only thing he knew to do. He drew his right arm back, and pitched the basketball baseball-style as hard as he could…

Jethro thought his heart might stop in his chest as the ball sailed through the air over the heads of every player on the court. He didn't dare take his eyes off of the ball to glance at the clock and he squeezed Shannon's hand tighter. "C'mon," he murmured. "C'mon!"

Tony stood, frozen on the three-point line, his palms pressed against his forehead, his eyes wide, staring at the ball he'd thrown as hard as he possibly could. He didn't dare breathe, didn't dare move, didn't dare even _hope._ There was no way he'd make the shot. No way…he'd done it yesterday, but that was a fluke—that was pure luck—chance—he wasn't—he couldn't—there was no way he'd make the shot…and yet…and yet…

Shannon kept the camera on the ball as it sailed through the net—just as easily as if Tony was doing a simple lay-up. A second later the buzzer sounded.

Tony's jaw dropped open wide in shock. He'd made it. He'd made the shot. He'd made the shot! HE'D MADE THE SHOT! That meant his team won! The score clicked up three points, giving Tony's team a two point lead. They'd won. Tony's team won. And they won because of _him_.

He was still standing in shock when his teammates mobbed him. The crowd was getting louder by the second, the announcer was trying to scream out over everyone's cheering, and through it all, Tony stood still, staring at the net. He'd won the game—the championship game—for his team.

Jethro and Shannon were jumping up and down, screaming themselves silly, clapping and cheering for THEIR boy who'd just won the Championship game. Shannon struggled to hold onto the video camera during her celebrations, but the recording picked up the happy father's reaction: "THAT'S MY BOY! MY BOY DID THAT! MY TONY! THAT'S MY TONY!" Jethro was screaming. "ATTABOY TONY! WAY TO GO NUMBER SEVENTEEN! THAT'S MY BOY!" Jethro was nearly hysterical he was so excited. He looked at Mike, still leaping for joy, and grabbed the other man's arm. "DID YOU SEE IT! DID YOU SEE IT! THAT'S OUR BOY!"

Kelly had made her way to the gym floor and she was yelling out cheers she'd learned, cheers she'd made up, cheers that she was making up off the top of her head, jumping and kicking and doing cartwheels. Her brother had just won the game! He was a star! A hero! He was…not moving?

Mike put a hand on Hetty's arm, stilling her bouncing, screaming, and cheering, and he pointed at Tony. Tony was standing still, right in the spot where he'd made the shot, and he was still staring at the net. He hadn't moved. He looked like he was freezing up.

The tall man who'd blocked Jethro's view at the beginning of the game turned to Jethro. He stuck his hand out. "Your kid the one who just made the crack shot and won the game?" he asked.

Jethro nodded, still beaming. "Yes! That's my Tony!"

The man shook Jethro's hand. "My kid's the one your boy stole the ball from," he said. "He's uh…he's pretty good."

Jethro calmed slightly. "Thanks," he said sincerely.

"Jethro," Shannon put a hand on his arm and lowered the video camera and turned it off. "Jethro look at Tony," she said in a quiet but urgent voice.

Jethro looked at Shannon, concerned by her tone. "What?"

"Probie, is your boy ok?" Mike asked, whacking Jethro on the arm with the back of his hand. Hetty was already stepping down from the bleachers and moving over to stop Kelly from rushing off to Tony. Kelly looked worried too.

Shannon looked at Jethro. "Tony's freaking out," she whispered. "He needs you." She pushed his arm slightly and pointed.

Jethro looked out at the court and saw Tony standing just like he'd been standing for several minutes now. His hands were still pressed into his forehead and his eyes were glued to the net. But he was visibly trembling—Jethro could see it all the way across the gym. He looked at Shannon and the others. "Meet me at the car," he said. "Find the coach and get his stuff. I'll get Tony out of here. He hates crowds."

"Well he just found himself the center of the attention of the crowd too," Mike said.

"He's not ready for that today," Shannon said. "Not after what happened with his father and the letter he got last night. Go get him. I'll get his stuff. Get him out of here."

Mike put a hand on Jethro's shoulder. "What do you want me to do?"

Jethro barely paused. "Get pizza!" he called over his shoulder as he jumped off the bleachers, "Meet us at the house! I'll pay you back when we all get there!"

As Jethro hurried away, the tall man from the opposite team turned to Shannon. "Your boy ok?"

Shannon smiled. "He is. He just gets overwhelmed sometimes."

The man nodded. "I'm still trying to figure out how a scrawny kid like yours beat out my kid and stole the ball from him. I mean it was an impressive shot and all, but damn. How'd he do it?"

Squaring her shoulders, Shannon narrowed her eyes. "Maybe my kid is just, I dunno, better than yours," she said snippily, hopping down off the bleachers. She left the man standing there without another word.

xxx

Down on the gym floor the other players were starting to notice that Tony seemed to be getting upset. One of his teammates, a tall, heavy footed boy with curly black hair and bright brown eyes named Ira, stepped closer to Tony. "You ok man? Tony you just made the winning shot! You saved the game!"

Tony blinked, but didn't answer. He and Ira weren't especially close. They were nice enough to each other, but Tony didn't consider him one of his good friends. Certainly not someone he felt safe with or felt like he trusted. He lowered his hands to cover his ears to shield them from all the screaming. He didn't think he'd ever heard that many people screaming his name before. He remembered a few weeks earlier and how people had screamed at his daddy's graduation ceremony, and Tony wondered vaguely if this was how it felt when people graduated.

Suddenly a man was standing in front of him, blocking his view of the net that his gaze was set to. He blinked dazedly and felt his body loosen with relief. Daddy. It was his daddy. Thank goodness.

Jethro knelt in front of him and gently moved Tony's hands away from his ears and then put his hands on Tony's shoulders. "I'm so proud of you," he said with a big smile. "I'm going to get you out of here ok?"

"Daddy?" Tony whispered. Jethro had to strain to hear him. "Why's everybody yelling?"

"They're yelling because they're excited. They're happy. C'mon. Let's get you outside. We'll get some air ok? It's alright."

"We won the game," Tony whispered, as he let Jethro lead him outside.

"Yes, your team did win. Your team won because you made the winning shot," Jethro said proudly.

"The winning shot," Tony murmured. Jethro shoved the gymnasium doors open and a blast of winter air hit them in the face and Tony gasped.

"There ya go," Jethro said, relieved to hear Tony suck in a deep breath. He blinked and seemed to focus a little more. They got to the edge of the sidewalk and Jethro sat Tony down on the brick wall. "You ok?" he asked, squatting down in front of him.

Tony nodded. "I'm ok. I really did it?" he said, sounding as if he wasn't sure he believed it.

Jethro smiled. "You really did it," he said proudly. "You made that shot—you threw that ball and Tony I couldn't even breathe—I couldn't look at the timer—I couldn't do anything except stare at the ball—at that perfect shot you made! WOW!"

Tony's eyes widened. "You saw it?" he asked hesitantly.

"Of course I saw it!"

"You didn't see the one I made yesterday. But…but this one I think was better," there was a small smile dawning on his face. Realization was beginning to set in. "I really made it?" he pinched himself on the arm. "I didn't dream it?"

Jethro smiled and gently eased Tony's fingers off of his arm. "You didn't dream it. You made it. Real life. Made it. You won the championship Tony. You. All you. All anybody else could do was watch. You were brilliant and I am so proud of you."

Tony looked around at the cold, gray day, and shivered suddenly. Jethro took off his jacket and wrapped it around Tony's shoulders, realizing that Tony was likely freezing. "Here ya go kiddo," Jethro said. "Don't want you catching cold. Mom's getting with the coach to collect your things, Hetty's got Kelly, and Mike is getting pizzas. You wanna go home?"

"Can I leave?" Tony asked. "Do I need to stay? Is Coach going to be mad if I leave now?"

"Mom is talking to Coach," Jethro said again, patiently. "She'll make it right. He'll be fine. Are you ready to go?"

Tony nodded slowly. "I really won the game?" he breathed.

Jethro smiled. "You really did. And there is a big party at home waiting for you. Just family and the team though. Nothing too crazy. It'll be fun. C'mon. Let's get you home so you can put more clothes on before you freeze."

xxx

Jethro pulled into the driveway and smiled. Everyone but Mike was there, and he'd be there soon. He glanced over at Tony who had dozed off in the front seat on the way home. His head leaned against the window and his mouth hung open, telling Jethro that Tony was not only asleep, but that he was deeply asleep. Jethro carefully eased Tony back in his seat so he wasn't leaning on the door—he didn't want Tony to jerk when the door opened. He got out of the car and stepped around to Tony's door and opened it. He reached over Tony and unfastened his seatbelt.

"C'mon kiddo," Jethro said. "Time to wake up."

Tony rolled his head towards Jethro and his eyes slid open. He smiled at Jethro and looked around. "Did I sleep the whole way home?" he giggled.

Jethro nodded. "Ya did. C'mon, Franks will be here in a minute so we can have dinner. You ok?"

Tony started to get out of the car and looked around. He seemed slightly disconnected, groggy from the heavy sleep he'd slipped into in the car. "I can't believe I made that shot," he said again. "I know I keep saying it, but Daddy!" his eyes widened. "Did you see it?"

Jethro ruffled Tony's hair. "I saw it alright. Oh man. You were brilliant." He grabbed Tony's right arm and slapped at his bicep gently. "Who knew you had such a wicked tough arm? Maybe you should play baseball yeah? You threw a basketball that hard, think about how hard you'd throw a baseball!"

"Um no Daddy. I hate baseball," Tony said, a hint of snarkiness in his voice.

Jethro's cell phone rang and he looked at it. "Vance is calling," he murmured. "I wonder what he wants?" he flipped open his cell phone. "Yeah, Gibbs." He listened for a moment, his eyes widening slightly. "Uh…yeah the game's over…we're just going to have pizza for dinner here at the house and watch the video recording Shannon made of the game. Tony made the winning shot…" he smiled, "Yeah you should see it. Awesome shot…sure you and Jackie can come over. Do you need the address?" Jethro listened for a moment, following Tony up the front steps to the house. He listened for a moment and then rattled off directions to their house. There was another pause before Jethro spoke again. "Ok. Ok yeah. See ya soon. No you don't need to bring anything. Ok. Thanks. Yeah." Jethro hung up the phone and looked at it, puzzled.

"What did Vance want Daddy?" Tony asked.

"He and his wife, Jackie, are going to come over and watch the recording of your game," Jethro said slowly.

Tony looked puzzled. "Ohhhhkay?"

Jethro smiled. "I know, right? Wasn't expecting that!"

"Is he gonna be nice?"

"Sure he is," Jethro nodded.

"How can you be so sure?" Tony waited while Jethro unlocked the door.

Jethro smiled. "Two good reasons. Jackie and Hetty."

xxx

Jackie Vance was just putting dinner on the table when Leon's cell phone buzzed. "Vance," he answered. "Yes ma'am…no ma'am I'm not going to be able to make it. Uh huh…yes, will you let Gibbs know? Thanks." He hung up the phone.

"What was that all about dear?" Jackie asked.

"Oh uh, that was Hetty. She was calling to see if I am planning to go to Gibbs' kid's game tonight."

Jackie brightened considerably. She was hopeful that her husband would step out more and do more to get involved with the team he'd joined a couple of years ago. He was a good agent—there was no denying his skills, both detective and undercover, and yet he didn't seem interested in getting involved with these people he worked so closely with on a personal level. Jackie thought that would have to be required for the type of work they did. They had to rely on each other to keep each other safe—wouldn't that be helped by having close personal relationships with each other?

"Are we going?" Jackie asked.

Leon shook his head. "I wasn't planning to."

Raising an eyebrow, Jackie crossed her arms. "Why not? We aren't doing anything?"

"Because I don't so much want to go," Leon said.

"We should go," Jackie said. She was tired of her husband refusing to be part of the team. "If you're going to be on their team you need to be part of their team."

"I don't see how not going to a junior high basketball game makes me not a part of the team," Leon snapped, crossing his own arms and leaning back in his chair.

"How many times have they invited you to be part of something they're doing? In case you haven't noticed, your team does quite a few things together. They know each other as _people,_ not just as agents. And by doing that, they can care for each other. And if a threat is made to one of the family members, then the team can work together to protect all of us—and will know who it is they are protecting! It is essential! Why do you not see that? It's essential for all of your peace of minds!"

"My peace of mind is just fine," Leon said coolly.

"Yes, but is theirs? If something were to happen to me, do you know for a fact that they'd have your six?"

"Of course they would! I trust them implicitly."

"Do they trust you?"

Leon stared at his wife. "What?"

Jackie raised an eyebrow. Bingo. "I said do _they _trust _you_?"

"I…sure they do," Leon said uncomfortably.

"Are you positive?"

Leon stared at his wife. "Don't psychoanalyze me," he snapped. "It might work on your clients, but don't pull that shit with me."

"Don't you take that tone with me," Jackie returned, just as snappish as her husband spoke. "I think you don't know if they trust you or not. And I think that is the reason why you are hesitant to get close. Because you are scared to trust people unless you know they trust you. You're afraid of getting close."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Leon said moodily.

"Then why aren't we going to the Gibbs' little boy's game tonight?"

"Can't we just eat dinner and have a nice quiet evening? It's Friday. We've worked all week. I just wanna spend time with you," Leon said with a smooth smile.

"We have all weekend to do that," Jackie said. "I think we should go. I want to meet the people you are working with."

"You've met them!"

"I met your boss one time the day you were sworn in," Jackie said, her face twisting into a smirk. "And that was two years ago. We are going. Call Gibbs and find out what time the game is." She handed him the phone.

"But you already made dinner—"

"We can cover it and throw it in the fridge until tomorrow."

"But it's Friday night! It's the night that you and I…" he winked, "you know."

Jackie took a step backwards. "Oh no," she shook her head. "No way."

"Why not?" Leon sputtered.

Jackie's smile was baiting, evil. "I don't sleep with cowards," she whispered dangerously. "Make the call Leon. It's going to be a long weekend."

It was for his own good after all.

xxx

Shannon's eyes widened in surprise when Jethro told her that Jackie and Leon were coming over. "Really?" she sputtered. "I mean—of course they're welcome—but—Jethro, they—they've never…well this will be fun!" Shannon smiled.

Tony was sitting snuggly on the couch between Hetty and Mike when the doorbell rang. "I don't know why they're coming," he murmured, almost to himself. "Mr. Vance doesn't like us."

Hetty glanced at Tony. The little boy had grown so much he was almost as tall as Hetty was now. "He doesn't know you. Once he gets to know you a little bit he'll adore you. No doubt about it."

Jethro went to the door and opened it. "Duck!" he exclaimed. "I'm so glad you made it!"

Tony's ears perked up and he smiled. "I didn't know Dr. Ducky was coming!" he said happily.

Hetty smiled. "I called him on our way over here and told him to join us for dinner and the review of the game once he finished up with his guest down in autopsy."

It might have bothered some people to know that the investigators referred to Ducky's dead bodies as "guests" to the children—a fact which the children were aware of, went along with, and was a reference they used themselves. They knew that Ducky worked with dead people—and they were well aware of what an autopsy was, even if they didn't know the gory details of it. However, Jethro and Shannon discussed it, and decided it would be better for the children if they were open about the type of work Daddy was doing, about the things he saw, and about what that job entailed. The children were wide eyed in awe of their dad's bravery. Jethro was like a superhero!

"Good evening all!" Ducky called jovially as he entered the Gibbs' home. He glanced around and smiled even wider when he saw Tony. "Ah! Anthony! Dear boy, you are the celebrity of the hour! Tell me about your game lad!" he crossed the room, stopping only long enough to drop a kiss onto Shannon's cheek and the top of Kelly's head. He sat down in the rocker across from the couch and folded his hands, his elbows resting on his knees.

Tony smiled from his seat between Hetty and Mike and nodded. "I made a big shot," he said quietly.

"Did you make a shot from the free throw line?" Ducky inquired.

Tony shook his head. "No," he said with a grin.

"Mid court?" Ducky guessed, his eyes widening.

"Nope," Tony shook his head again.

"Were you beyond mid court?" Ducky asked in wonder.

"He was at the three point line," Jethro called from the dining room where he was helping to get the pizzas organized for easy service. "He pulled that ball back and pitched it like a baseball. It was amazing!"

The doorbell rang and Tony's eyes flared slightly with trepidation. He'd only met Agent Vance once or twice, and when he had the man had never been very nice. He hadn't been rude or anything, but Tony didn't think he liked kids. He didn't understand why the grouchy agent would want to be here tonight.

"That'll be the Vances," Jethro said. "Mike you wanna get the door?"

"Sure Probie!" Mike rose from the couch. Shannon came in from the kitchen with Kelly in tow. They had drinks and snacks in their hands and began helping to organize the food on the table. "Mike's getting the door," Jethro told Shannon when she looked up at the door. "I think it must be Leon and his wife."

"Have you ever met her?" Shannon asked, suddenly nervous. Ever since she'd gotten so sick back in Oceanside, a lot of her self-confidence was gone. She was still helpful and welcoming, but she was always nervous about meeting new people. She wanted desperately to make a good impression—especially where her husband and his career was concerned, but she didn't always feel like she did a good job of that. Jethro had never mentioned anything about it, but Shannon just felt like she needed to be more outgoing, to be more welcoming, to be more helpful…she sighed, hoping this new person would like her and her family.

Mike opened the door and smiled. "Probie Number Two!" he exclaimed. "Welcome welcome! And Probie's Wife! Jackie, it's always lovely to see you my dear," he said.

Mike was quite a hit with the ladies. It was rare to get to see Mike's wife, Charlie—short for Charlotte—because she was a paramedic who often worked evenings. Jackie stepped inside and dropped a kiss onto Mike's cheek. "Hello Mike," she said. "Always a pleasure."

Shannon stepped tentatively into the living room, near the door. "Hello," she said pleasantly. "You must be Jackie! I'm Shannon! I'm so glad to meet you!" She stuck her hand out to introduce herself, sounding far more confident than she felt. "And Leon! It's nice to see you again!"

Leon smiled. "Hello Shannon," he nodded. "Gibbs," he nodded at Jethro. "I uh…we brought a bottle of wine. Hope that's ok."

"That's wonderful Leon," Shannon took the wine and admired the bottle. "We'll let this chill for a bit until the little ones head off. Once they go to bed we will pull it out and enjoy it." Leon smiled.

"C'mon in," Jethro said, taking their coats. "We are about to have some dinner, and Shannon recorded the game for the people who didn't get to come see it."

"We already ate," Leon said, "but uh…I'd like to see the game," he said uncomfortably, glancing surreptitiously at his wife.

"Ducky's in the living room with Hetty and Tony," Jethro indicated with his head.

"Dr. Mallard is here?" Leon asked.

Jethro nodded. "When I invited the whole team, I meant the whole team," he said gently. "I want to get to know everybody."

"We've been working together for two years," Leon said. "Think we know each other just fine."

"Then why are our wives just now meeting?" Jethro asked sweetly.

"I…I'm glad they're meeting now," Leon told Jethro quietly. "I've uh…I've been wrong," his lips were set in a firm line.

"Well now we can fix it," Jethro said. "And it looks like they're getting off to a great start," he indicated the two women with his head. They were smiling and chatting, getting to know each other, and including Kelly in the conversation as well. "Go on into the living room. I'm coming too," he said. "Wanna drink?"

"Whatever you're having," Leon nodded. He turned and headed into the living room. He was a bit surprised to see Gibbs' boy, Tony, sitting snuggly against Hetty, Mike sitting on his other side, and speaking animatedly with Ducky. He wondered at the relationships here, and he wondered if his wife was right—had he been missing everything?

"Anthony," Ducky was saying. "I must tell you dear boy, how proud of you I am! I think back on your early years, when your little leg was so disfigured and mangled—I will be honest with you child, I never expected you to be able to walk as well as you do—let alone become the star player on your Junior High School Basketball Team. I have been proven wrong by you dear child, and for that I am tremendously proud."

"Really? Back before I got my new leg you didn't think I'd be able to walk this good?"

"I really did not think you'd recover as well as you have," Ducky nodded. He looked up. "Leon! Hello! It's so nice of you to join us!"

"Hi everyone," Leon said. He smiled at Tony. "Tony how ya doin' kid?"

Tony eyed him warily. "I'm ok, thank you," he said politely. "Thank you for coming."

"It's my pleasure," Leon said. He looked in wonder at the small boy who spoke so much like an adult. "I didn't mean to interrupt," he said.

"You have not interrupted at all!" Ducky said. "We are glad you've joined us! Have you had a nice evening? Did you get to go to young Tony's game?"

Leon shook his head. "No, unfortunately we missed it," he looked at his lap for a moment and then looked up at Tony and smiled. "I hear you're pretty good," he commented.

Tony shrugged. "I do ok," he said softly, his insecurity audible in his voice.

"Ah you're better than ok and you know it!" Jethro exclaimed, coming into the living room. He settled into the rocker near the couch, leaving Tony sitting between Hetty and Mike. Tony looked nervously around the room and swallowed thickly a couple of times. He didn't answer his dad.

Jethro eyed him carefully, immediately picking up that something was going on with Tony. "You ok kiddo?" he asked.

Tony didn't answer for a moment, and then he nodded slowly. "I'm ok Daddy," he whispered. "I um…I'll be back. Please excuse me," he said politely and slid off the couch.

As he headed up the hall, Jethro noticed that Tony was sporting an ever-so-slight limp and his eyes narrowed slightly. "Holler if you need anything," he called after him.

Tony offered a thumbs up and disappeared into his bedroom. Jethro figured Tony was overwhelmed. Between the events of the night before, the excitement of the game today, and coming home to a house full of mostly-familiar people…it was a lot for his very introverted little boy to handle.

"Jethro is he alright?" Ducky asked in a very low voice. Leon noticed the concern in Ducky's voice and looked questioningly first down the hall and then at Jethro. "He's limping."

"I saw that. Think maybe he's just tired," Jethro said. "But if you want to give him a once over, I won't complain."

"Is he ok?" Leon asked. "Did he get hurt at the game?" In all honesty, he hadn't noticed the kid limping, but if Jethro and Ducky say that he was, then he must have been.

Ducky glanced at Jethro, who nodded imperceptibly. "Tony suffered a severe break in his leg when he was very small. It required an extensive operation to repair the damage," he explained.

Leon nodded. "Thank you for telling me," he said. "Does it uh…does it still give him a lot of problems?"

"It did for a while," Jethro nodded, "But in the last few years it's quit hurting him so much. It flares up occasionally. The doctor said he might be predisposed for arthritis."

Shannon and Jackie appeared in the doorway. "Are you guys ready to watch the game?"

Kelly came in behind them. "Where's Tony?" she asked.

"He asked to be excused," Jethro said. "Want me to go get him?"

"I can get him," Kelly volunteered.

Shannon sat down in the floor. "I'll get the video cued up. Jethro why don't you get Tony. Kelly you can narrate the beginning for us."

Jethro nodded and stood up. "Good idea," he said. "Be right back!"

TBC…


	5. Bonding and Bad Feelings

**Author's Note:** After the happiness of last chapter, this one is significantly heavier. Some minor mentionings of Daddy's Boy.

_Thanks to my wonderful beta Gotgoats for all your help! You're amazing!_

**Game Changer  
****Chapter 5: Bonding and Bad Feelings**

Jethro stepped down the hall to Tony's room. His boy was sitting on the bed, arms folded across his middle, looking troubled. "Hey," Jethro said, cocking his head to the side and looking at Tony with concern. "You ok?"

Tony shrugged and looked out the dark window into the winter night. "I guess," he said.

"What's wrong Tony?" Jethro sat down on the bed next to his son. "Talk to me."

Tony bit his lower lip and grimaced, looking uncomfortable. "It's weird…having Mr. Vance here," he said. "And…" he shrugged.

Jethro draped an arm around Tony's shoulders. "Tony," he said softly. "Are you worried about the letter you got?"

Tony took a deep, shuddery breath and looked out the window again. "Yeah," he mumbled. "It's dumb," he shrugged.

"It's not dumb," Jethro reassured him. "It's understandably scary. But maybe I can help you feel better. Do you know what I did today?"

"What?" Tony asked.

"I took the letter you got to work with me. And I showed it to Hetty."

Tony's head dipped even lower and he sighed.

"She's looking into it for us. She's making sure that Senior can't find you and that he isn't going to hurt you. But she's also going to make sure that he gets the help he needs."

Tony's gaze shot up. "Really?" he asked curiously. "She's going to make sure he's ok?"

Jethro smiled, not for the first time taken back by Tony's compassion. "That's right," he said. "She's going to make sure if he's sick that he gets the help he needs, and she's going to make sure he understands that he isn't supposed to contact you. What he did was wrong Tony. You understand that, right?"

It troubled Jethro that Tony hesitated before he nodded slowly. "Yeah," Tony agreed. "It's just…the letter? He sounded really mad at me. And I…I mean I barely remember him. I remember him grabbing my arm on the playground. And I remember the day he threw me out of the car. And I remember…" he shuddered.

"Keep going," Jethro encouraged, rubbing Tony's back gently. "Talk it out. Don't bottle it up."

"I remember when he killed my mother," Tony whispered. "And when he broke my leg. But…the little stuff? The everyday stuff? I don't really remember what it was like. My bedroom didn't have any windows…"

Jethro closed his eyes, recalling the photographs of "Tony's box" which he was now seeming to recall as his bedroom. Jesus. He swallowed hard, forcing down the lump in his throat. "Yeah," he nodded. "But all of that is in the past. It's gone and you're with us and we love you. We won't ever hurt you and we'll keep you safe." He pulled Tony into a hug.

"Daddy?" Tony murmured.

"Yeah kiddo?"

"Do you think…do you think if Senior saw me play ball…do you think he'd be proud of me?"

Jethro hugged Tony tighter. Tony didn't remember the hatred on his father's face that day in the courtroom. He didn't remember anything about that trip to Los Angeles or how his father so ruthlessly pulled out a gun and shot him without a second thought. He didn't know how to tell Tony that he really didn't think Senior would give a tinker's damn if Tony made the winning basketball shot, was elected president, or fell over dead. He pressed his cheek to the top of Tony's head and took a deep breath. "I don't know, Tony," he whispered. "I don't know what he'd think. But I'll tell you what I do know."

Tony looked up at him. "What's that?" he asked.

Jethro was floored by the trust and affection he saw in the child's gaze. "I know that I might not be your biological father. And Shannon might not be your biological mother. But I can promise you, that there is no way Senior or your bio-mom could be any more proud of you than Mom and me are. We love you Tony. And we are SO proud of you."

Tony stared at Jethro for a long moment before a small smile split his face. Part of him wanted to scream and fuss that it wasn't fair—he didn't understand why, more than anything, he still wanted to please his biological father—the man whom he barely remembered—the man who, from what Tony did remember, only ever sought to hurt him. Why did he care so much? And part of him wanted Jethro to speak to that. But his daddy didn't do that. He was always careful to speak of Senior without really saying his opinion. He didn't try to guess what Senior would do or think. And the more Tony thought about it…as the moments passed, the bitterness began to fade and it left Tony feeling incredibly weary.

"Daddy?"

"Yeah Tony?"

Tony was quiet for a long moment and stared out the window again. Finally he looked up at Jethro. "Why do I care about what he thinks?" he asked.

Jethro looked sad. "I don't know," he said. "I think because your brain still knows that he's your father. And all of us really want to make our parents happy."

"But you and Mom are my parents now," Tony reasoned.

"Yes, that's true too," Jethro agreed.

Tony sniffled once and swallowed hard. "It's really confusing," he said brokenly. "I don't want to go back there. I don't even know where _there _is. I only remember Senior hurting me and me being afraid of him…" he looked up at his beloved daddy. "I love you Daddy. And Mom, and Kelly, and Grandma and Grandpa…but…I still…I care about him," he whispered, not needing to specify who "him" was.

Jethro pulled Tony into a tight hug and rested his chin on top of his boy's head. "We all love you too Tony. We are so glad you are part of our family. That story I told you last night? About the day I found you? I meant what I said. Best day ever. I'm so glad you're ours."

Tony returned the embrace and Jethro could feel him trembling slightly as he worked his way through the emotions coursing through him. "You aren't mad at me, are you?" he asked uncertainly.

"Why would I be angry with you?"

"Because I was…am…worried about my…about Senior," Tony whispered.

"Oh Tony, no," Jethro said. He tilted Tony's face up so he could look him in the eyes. "I give you my word. None of us are going to be angry with you for worrying about Senior. He's your father—and even if you don't live with him anymore—he still is part of you and part of who you are—good and bad. It's ok for you to worry about him. But…you can't contact him. I don't even know if you want to, but I'm going to go ahead and remind you that it isn't safe for you to do that."

Tony nodded. "I know," he agreed. "I don't really want to talk to him. I just like to know he's ok. Even if he stays in jail forever…I don't want to know him. But…" he shrugged again.

"I get it," Jethro nodded. "And it's ok. We'll make sure he's ok. We'll make sure if he's sick that he gets what he needs to get better."

Tony smiled. "Thanks," he murmured. "I guess we should go back out there," he said.

"Whenever you're ready," Jethro said. "Hey I wanted to ask you something."

"What?" Tony asked.

"Is your leg hurting?"

Tony blinked. "That's a random question," he said with a smile.

Jethro raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Yes—a random question which you are now deflecting."

Tony lowered his gaze. "It hurts a little."

"How much is a little?"

"Did you see me get knocked down during the game?"

At one point, Tony had been plowed into by a member of the other team by accident. Tony had fallen over after being knocked off balance, but hadn't stayed down—in fact had barely hit the ground before he popped back up. Jethro hadn't given it a second thought. Now he nodded, "Yes, I saw that. Did you get hurt?"

"I think I just jammed it a little," Tony said with a nonchalant shrug. "I think it's ok."

"Want Ducky to take a look at it?"

"I don't think he wants to," Tony said evasively. "He had to work all day."

"Yes, but he cares about you. We can ask him. I don't think he'll mind. It's him or Mom. Which do you prefer?"

Tony stared at Jethro, troubled by the choice he'd been given. Who should he choose? He decided on no one, and shrugged. "Doesn't matter," he said. "You pick."

"We'll ask Ducky if he wants to take a look. If he doesn't, then we'll get Mom to check it over. Do you need any tylenol or anything?"

Tony shook his head. "I don't think so."

"Tell me if you do?" Jethro said.

Tony nodded. "Ok," he said.

"Want Ducky to check you in here or in the living room?"

"Can he come in here? I feel funny with everyone watching."

Jethro nodded. "Sure. I'll go ask him. We'll just get it over with and then have fun. How's that?"

"Ok," Tony said.

Jethro smiled. "Ok. Be right back," he said, hopping up off the bed. "Change out of your pants and put your shorts back on, yeah?" He turned, and tapped Tony under the chin. "And you remember what I told you ok? I meant every word of it."

Tony smiled and nodded slowly. "I know."

xxx

It didn't take Ducky long to examine Tony's leg and determine that there was no severe injury to it. It was, as Tony thought, likely just jammed from the fall and the collision with the other boy. Ducky suggested taking half a dose of tylenol and throwing the heating pad on his knee for a little bit. He told them not to be surprised if Tony's leg was sore for a few days. Once Ducky finished checking Tony's leg over, they headed for the living room together and everyone smiled and greeted them when Tony came back.

Kelly stared in surprise when she saw Tony wearing a pair of basketball shorts with the company there. Once they'd gotten home, Tony had quickly changed into sweat pants. She supposed when Ducky checked his leg over that he'd changed back into his shorts and now he'd just left them on. But it was almost unheard of for Tony to wear shorts when there were people outside of the family around. Even more unheard of for him to do it when almost-strangers were there.

Tony looked around the room, debating where to sit. He could resume his seat next to Hetty and Mike, but…part of him really wanted to be close to his mom or dad. He'd need to sit near the outlet so he could have the heating pad plugged in. Tony decided to sit on the floor near the rocking chair that Jethro had previously occupied. Jethro quickly plugged in the heating pad and helped Tony to situate it on his bum knee. Ducky handed them a throw pillow from the couch to tuck under his leg to elevate it slightly. Much to Tony's delight, Jethro settled on the floor beside him and smiled.

"Hey Momma," Jethro said to Shannon.

She looked at the pair on the floor and smiled. "Yeessss?"

"Any chance we can get Tony some pizza?" he asked.

Shannon smiled. "Absolutely. Onions, peppers and anchovies coming right up!" she said cheerfully.

"ACK!" Tony grunted, his eyes popping open wide. "WHAT?!"

Giggles burst out from his mom. "You silly boy! You should know that I would never do that to you! I don't think Mike even brought any pizzas with vegetables on them!"

"They have pizza sauce on them!" Mike said. "How nutritious do you want it to be?"

"I agree with Mike!" Leon said, much to everyone's surprise. They all stared at him in surprise and he shrugged. "Think about it—pizza is the perfect meal! It's got all of the food groups on it! It's got bread, fruits/veggies, dairy, and meat. All you need to add is a Hershey bar for dessert and you've got a well balanced diet!"

Tony smiled and held up two thumbs. "I think we're going to be friends!" he exclaimed jubilantly. Seriously—a man who thought like that couldn't be all bad, could he?

Leon looked at Tony and smiled. "I'd uh…I'd like that," he said. And it was true—much to Leon's surprise? He really did like this kid—this family was a lot of fun. He wanted to be part of this…this camaraderie…how strange. He'd never felt like that before, always having preferred to stick to himself and be a lone wolf. Maybe Jackie was rubbing off on him.

Tony smiled. "I'd like that too."

xxx

The happy group watched the game with enthusiasm. The ones who'd seen the game earlier watched it with just as much enthusiasm as they had the first time, and Ducky and the Vances watched it with wide eyed wonder—happy for the young boy in their midst—the young boy who'd fallen asleep in the floor with his head on his daddy's leg. Jethro had his hand on Tony's shoulder and was keeping a close eye on his leg with the heating pad on it so it didn't get too hot.

"He's really quite good!" Jackie exclaimed. "So young and so talented! You all must be so proud."

"We are all, very proud of Tony," Shannon gushed. "He's amazing. He's come a long way since we adopted him."

Leon's attention turned to the sleeping Tony. "You adopted him?"

Jethro paused the game and nodded at Leon. "Yeah, we did," he said. "About seven years ago. When I was still in the marines."

Jackie cupped her chin in her hands with her elbows on her knees. She, like her husband, was watching Tony. "Oh he gives me so many questions," she murmured.

"Yeah?" Shannon asked. "Why's that?"

Jackie straightened. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't even mean to say that out loud. I'm a pediatric psychotherapist," she said. "Kids make me ask lots of questions. Sometimes it's hard to leave the office at the office."

"We had to see a counselor a while ago," Kelly commented idly from her seat near Hetty. "Tony had to talk to one before he could be adopted by us, and we both had to go see one when Mom got sick. But I think we are all better now—we haven't had to see one in a long time."

Shannon raised her eyebrows and looked at Jethro who looked equally shocked. They were unsure of how much they wanted to share, but it seemed Kelly was feeling more comfortable with the Vances now, and may open up more than they expected.

Jackie smiled at Kelly, easily picking up on the discomfort radiating from Jethro and Shannon. "You sound like a good sister," she commented to Kelly.

Kelly blushed. "Thanks," she said. "Tony…well he's my best friend. I don't know what I'd ever do without him."

"I have a question," Leon said quietly. "And I may be over stepping, but…I'm curious."

"What's that Leon?" Shannon said kindly. "You can ask whatever you like. If we are not comfortable with answering, we'll tell you."

"I see…" he nodded at Tony's leg. "He's got some uh…bad scarring there…on his leg."

"Yeah," Jethro murmured.

"I heard Ducky say earlier that he had a broken leg…are the scars from that?"

"Yes, he had to have an operation to repair it," Jethro answered politely.

"How did he break his leg?" Jackie jumped in.

Jethro and Shannon looked at their sleeping child. They shared a look, silently debating how much they should share. Kelly noticed that they were reluctant to answer and stayed out of it.

"I'm sorry," Jackie backpedalled. "I am overstepping. My apologies."

"No, no don't apologize," Shannon said, shaking her head. "It's just…it's a…a hard story." Her eyes filled with tears. "You see…when we found him…he'd been abandoned. His father…he really abused him before that. His leg was broken by his father. Several times."

"Thank you for telling us," Leon said quietly, with a nod at his wife to leave it. "I'm sure that was…difficult."

Jethro nodded tightly. "He uh…before it was all said and done…he um…he almost died. It was hard," Jethro's voice trailed off into a whisper.

"He had to have surgery on his leg," Kelly told them. "That's when we met Ducky and Hetty and Mike!"

Leon's eyes widened. "What?" he asked. "I don't understand…?"

Jethro smiled. "Well you know Hetty and Mike were stationed in California—out in Los Angeles," he said. When Vance nodded, he continued. "Well…I helped with an investigation down on the base in Camp Pendleton. That's how we met them."

"And that's how you got your job?" Leon wasn't sure how he felt about that.

"Oh no," Hetty said. "I had no idea that he'd even applied until I met him at the interview! When we met him in California Jethro was helpful, but he didn't have any of the credentials he needed to become a field agent."

"So how did he get his job?"

"He presented documentation that he was degree seeking and that he was no longer in the military. He went through the interview process and completed the FLET-C program. He impressed people all up and down the ranks—from the president to the janitors. He got his job because he deserved it. The same way you got yours," Hetty said, using her 'teaching voice.'

Leon nodded. "Sorry," he said nervously. "I um…I'm bad for sticking my foot in my mouth. I uh…maybe we should go…Sorry for upsetting your evening." He stood to leave.

"Wait," Jethro said. He was still on the floor with Tony's head on his lap. "You can't leave yet!"

"But—"

"Hey you came to see the game, right?" Jethro said kindly, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Leon nodded. A glance at Jackie told him she was listening, waiting to hear what Jethro was going to say. "Yes," he said, his voice near a whisper. He couldn't believe how badly he'd screwed up this evening.

"Well ya can't leave then! WE haven't finished watching the game—and the last five seconds are the part you really need to see," Jethro smiled. "Go get a refill on your drink and come sit back down. I'm going to wake up Tony here. He wants to see his game I think. Plus," Jethro grimaced, "my leg is going to sleep."

Leon was stunned by the kindness and acceptance that he found at Gibbs' house. The two had never really gotten along that well—he always felt a need to prove something or one-up Gibbs. But here…he was beginning to see he didn't need to do that. Jethro saw him as an equal—as a partner—a brother in arms. He didn't need to try and show him up. He let out a long breath. Maybe Jackie was right. Maybe he hadn't ever been _part _of the team, for as long as he'd been _on_ the team. Now…now he saw the difference.

After he refilled his cup and grabbed a slice of pizza—Leon loved pizza—he returned to the group. "Thanks Jethro," he said sincerely.

Jethro smiled and nodded once. "Glad you came tonight Leon. You too Jackie. We've been meaning to invite you both over for dinner, and things have just been crazy."

"We should have you all over some time," Jackie chimed in. "That'd be fun." Shannon smiled and nodded.

Jethro turned the game back on and let Tony sleep until the halftime break. Then he poked his boy in the ribs gently. "Wake up Tony," he said. "You're not going to sleep tonight if you sleep now. C'mon. Sit up and watch the game with us."

Tony groaned and pushed himself up on one arm, the other hand raising to rub lazily at his eye. "Mmmmk," he said, before flopping back down on Jethro's leg.

Jethro grunted—when Tony lifted his head up he'd had a surge of blood flow into his foot causing it to tingle, and once he flopped his head back down, it caused the tingles to multiply by the gazillions and he grimaced. "Gotta sit up Tony," he said, lifting Tony's shoulders.

Tony groaned and this time sat up. Shannon passed him a cup of the juice he'd been drinking lately, and a slice of pizza. "You didn't eat much earlier," she commented.

"I wasn't hungry," Tony murmured.

Jethro turned the game on and they began watching the second half. Tony grew increasingly more alert and excited, the closer they got to the end of the game. He gave little commentary during the game, and when the clock ran down to the last five minutes, Tony watched in rapt attention as he stole the ball from the other kid, ducked out of the way of his flailing arms and legs, quickly glanced around before drawing back and pitching the ball as hard as he could towards the net. Jethro glanced around at the others and saw Ducky and the Vances watching, eyes wide with surprise and pride, as their little star made the perfect shot.

The ball swished and the room erupted into shouts and squeals of excitement from everyone. Tony glanced around at his family and his friends—some new ones and some old ones—and he smiled, feeling a blush creep into his cheeks.

Kelly scooted down to sit beside Tony and threw her arm over his shoulders. "You are amazing," she whispered in his ear. Tony looked at her and smiled, before laying his head over on his sister's shoulder.

They continued watching, and Tony's eyes widened slightly when he heard Jethro's jubilant cheers when Tony's team won the game and a smile dragged slowly across his face. Jethro reached over and ruffled Tony's hair. "Proud of you kiddo," he said.

"Tony that was amazing!" Jackie exclaimed.

Tony didn't answer because his eyes were glued to the screen. He was watching as he slowly closed in on himself. He watched as his shock began to take over and for the first time, Tony got to see what he looked like when he began to panic. It was a bit unnerving for the little boy, because he never witnessed it happening, only ever experienced it. Seeing it happen like this was not really helping though, and Tony felt his chest tighten slightly with anxiety.

Shannon saw her boy beginning to freak out and reached over and plucked the remote from Jethro's hand and turned the tape off. "And there you have it," she said hurriedly, still glancing at Tony. "Didn't Tony do an amazing job?"

"Oh yeah he was great!" Leon said.

Jethro chuckled. "I told him if he pitches a basketball like that he should play baseball. Just imagine what he'd do with a baseball!"

"Nah," Leon shook his head. "What he needs to play is football."

Tony's eyes rounded. More than anything in the world, Tony wanted to play football. Much to his dismay, Jethro shook his head. "He can't play football," he said firmly. "It's too dangerous."

"But Daddy—" Kelly cut in.

"No Kelly," Jethro shook his head. "You know this."

"But my head is better!" Tony chimed in. "I mean I still don't see good out of my right eye, but—"

"Tony—kiddo—it's not about your head," Jethro said patiently. "It's about your leg, remember?"

"His head?" Jackie asked, unable to stop herself. "I thought his leg gave him problems?"

Tony glanced at her. "My father shot me in my head and caused me to go half blind in my right eye. And he broke my leg over and over again. But," he turned his firm stare to Jethro now, "I'm FINE! Daddy just worries."

"Damn right I worry," Jethro snapped, crossing his arms.

Jackie nodded. "I would worry," she agreed.

"Daddy can we ask my doctor about playing football?" Tony asked. He looked at Leon who winked at him.

Jethro rubbed a hand over his forehead. "Tony…son…I know you want to play football. But do you remember what Dr. Trexler said? He said you could do a lot of damage to your leg if you were to get tackled, and your head…he warned us against another head injury, remember? You already have the migraines."

"Besides Sweetheart," Shannon said with a gentle smile. "Think about how well you play basketball! You're the star of your team! If you were to hurt your leg playing football—honey you wouldn't be able to play anything. You don't want that, do you?"

Tony took a moment to think about it, and then he nodded. "I guess," he mumbled.

"My dear boy," Ducky said. "I know this must be difficult for you to understand—"

"No Ducky," Tony shook his head sadly. "I understand it." His shoulders drooped. "I don't like it, but I understand it."

"I'm not doing it to be mean," Jethro defended himself to Tony. He ran a hand lightly over the back of his boy's head. "I'm sorry Tony. I know you want to play it. I just…you're doing so well…and you're so active now…I'd hate for you to lose that."

Tony forced a smile to his face and nodded slowly. "I know Daddy," he said quietly. He looked around at the others. "I think I am going to go to bed. I'm tired. Thank you for coming today." He stood up.

"Do you want someone to tuck you in Tony?" Shannon asked.

Tony shook his head. "Nah," he said. "You guys are visiting. I'm ok. Goodnight."

"Goodnight Sweetheart," Shannon said, standing and crossing the room to kiss her boy on the cheek. He smiled at her.

Jethro also stood up and crossed the room. He put his hands on Tony's shoulders and smiled down at him before kissing him firmly on the forehead. "I'm proud of you kiddo. You're awesome. Go get some rest." Tony hugged him tightly and held on for a few moments longer than he normally would have. "Do you want to do like we did last night?" Jethro asked in a very low voice.

"Um…maybe," Tony nodded, uncomfortable. "If I can't sleep?"

"I'll check on you in a bit," Jethro said. "But if you need something, you call me or Mom ok?"

"Or ME!" Kelly called out.

Tony giggled and headed down the hall. Jethro looked at Kelly. "Time for bed Missy," he said, nodding towards her room with his head.

"But Daddy!" Kelly whined. "I'm fourteen! I can stay up late!"

"It's almost ten, that's plenty late for you. And tomorrow's Saturday, so you need to get some sleep. Family day tomorrow."

"Are you working tomorrow?" Kelly asked.

"We're on call," Jethro said, glancing at Hetty, who nodded that he was right. "So I might have to work. But it'll still be a fun day for you."

Kelly kissed her parents and hugged Mike, Ducky, and Hetty. She politely told Leon and Jackie goodnight and followed Tony's lead down the hall. Once they heard the children's bedroom doors close, Jethro and Shannon sat back down.

"You've got such nice kids," Jackie said, "and it sounds like to me that Tony has quite an interesting story."

Shannon nodded. "Thanks. They are good kids. And Tony's story would blow your mind."

"Well, I look forward to hopefully getting to know both of them better," Jackie smiled.

"Do you have any children?" Shannon asked.

Jackie shook her head. "Not yet. Maybe one day."

"You won't regret it," Shannon said. "Those kids are my whole world, along with Jethro. I'd die for them in a heartbeat. For a long time it was just the two of us with Kelly. We thought we had it all—and we couldn't have any more kids anyway. That all changed when we met Tony."

"How long did you know him before you brought him home?" Jackie asked.

Jethro smiled. "About ten, fifteen minutes," he chuckled.

"I met Tony as Jethro was getting him out of the car at our house. By the time we got inside, I was sold."

"Wow," Leon breathed. "But… I mean…the adoption process takes a while, doesn't it?"

Shannon nodded. "Because Tony had been taken into the custody of the state, we had to become licensed foster parents in order to be able to take him in until we could adopt him," she explained.

"We met him in late August. Then he went to another…family," Jethro spat, still frustrated over the way that had gone, even years later. "We had to scramble to get our license. We got Tony back in November and he's been with us ever since. We officially adopted him and made him a Gibbs in June the next year."

"How old was Tony when you met him?" Jackie asked.

Jethro smiled sadly, recalling the way he'd asked Tony how old he was at the fairground, and the uncertain, quiet way he'd slowly counted his fingers. "He was five, but he could have passed for three years old he was so small. Way underfed and malnourished. He's still trying to catch up, even now."

"How old is he now?" Leon asked.

"He's twelve."

There was a long moment when nobody spoke, before Shannon suddenly hopped up. "Does anybody want anything? A drink? A snack? Leon and Jackie brought wine!"

"No thank you Darling," Hetty said. "I should actually head home. It's bedtime." She smiled and stood up. "In our line of work, one should never pass up bedtime."

"I should go too," Mike said. "Charlie should be off work soon."

Jethro shook Mike's hand. "See ya Probie," Mike said, ruffling Jethro's hair affectionately.

"You know technically I'm a full agent now," Jethro groused good-naturedly. This was not the first time they'd had this discussion.

"So? You'll always be my probie, Probie!" Mike exclaimed.

Ducky stood up also. "I suppose I should go too." He kissed Shannon on the cheek and shook hands with Jethro. "It's always a special treat to visit with the Gibbs family."

"And we love you Ducky," Shannon hugged him warmly. "You're always welcome with us."

"Thank you my dear," Ducky smiled.

Leon and Jackie also stood up. "Oh please stay!" Shannon surprised herself by saying.

The Vances shared a look and Leon glanced uncertainly at Jethro, who nodded. "Alright," he smiled. "We'd like that." Jackie nodded eagerly.

"Wonderful!" Shannon exclaimed. She headed for the kitchen. "Does anybody want coffee?"

Jethro let everyone out and closed the door. "I'm going to check on Tony and Kelly," he said.

Leon and Jackie followed Shannon to the kitchen and Jethro headed down the hall. He opened Kelly's door first. She was in bed with the lamp on, reading quietly. Kelly always enjoyed having her nose stuck in a book. "Lights out Princess," he said kindly. Jethro crossed the room as Kelly marked her place. He set her book on the nightstand and kissed her cheek. "Love you Kelly," he said.

Kelly hugged him. "I love you too, Daddy!" she whispered.

Jethro let her as she turned out her lamp. He crossed the hall to Tony's room. Tony was sitting on the bed with his knees drawn up and his arms wrapped around his legs.

"Hiya Kiddo," Jethro said quietly.

Tony looked up slowly. "Hey," he mumbled.

"Havin' trouble sleeping?" Jethro asked sympathetically.

"Yeah," Tony nodded. "Stomach hurts."

"Hurts like you're sick or is your pizza biting you back or are you nervous or…?" Jethro eased down to sit on the side of Tony's bed near his youngest child.

"Hurts like something bad is gonna happen," Tony whispered.

Tony's "gut" was often as reliable as Jethro's.

"Any idea who or what?" Jethro asked, taking Tony very seriously.

Tony shook his head. "Nope," he mumbled sadly. "Just…if you get called into work…if you gotta go, be careful, ok?"

Jethro scooted closer to Tony and hugged him firmly. "I promise."

xxx

Jethro sat with Tony until he fell asleep and then quietly headed back towards the kitchen and joined Shannon, Leon, and Jackie in the dining room where they were sitting and drinking coffee.

"Hi Honey," Shannon smiled. "Kids ok?"

"Yeah," Jethro nodded. "Kelly was reading and Tony was worrying. They're both sleeping now."

"What is Tony worrying about?"

"He said his stomach was hurting because he was afraid of something bad happening."

"Any idea what?" Shannon looked nervous. Tony's gut was rarely wrong.

"Nope," Jethro shook his head. "No clue. He wants all of us to be careful."

"You said he's sleeping now?" Shannon clarified.

"Yes," Jethro nodded. "I'm going to get coffee. Anybody need anything while I'm up?"

"Do you have a toothpick?" Leon asked suddenly.

Jethro nodded. "You bet," he said. "Jackie? Shan?"

Both wives declined and a moment later, Jethro joined them at the table, coffee cup and toothpicks in hand.

Leon shoved a toothpick between his back teeth and conversation continued.

The Gibbses and the Vances talked and drank coffee together for a long time before bidding each other goodnight.

As they got into the car, Jackie eyed her husband carefully. Leon only ever chewed on toothpicks when he was nervous about something, but she chose not to call attention to it. Leon would speak of it when he was ready. She commented on the evening, the fun they had, and the unexpected friendships forming.

"He's right," Leon finally said as he started the car.

"What? Who?" Jackie asked.

"Little Tony," Leon said. "Having the feeling that something is gonna happen. He's right."

"What makes you say that?" Jackie asked.

"Because," Leon said, backing the car out of the Gibbs' driveway. "I've got the same feeling."

TBC…


End file.
